Harry and the project of Eden
by Kingdark
Summary: I, Harry Potter defeated Voldemort but instead of living to tell about it, someone stabbed me in the back. Well, spelled me in the back if you want to be technical. Since my brand new status as 'master of death' I was allowed a single wish to make up for it. I wake up in a small town called Pallet and I'm in the body of a toddler. I knew there would be a catch.
1. A wish from a God! V2

**Republished on 19/01/2013  
**

**Harry and the project of Eden**

Short summary: I, Harry Potter defeated voldemort but instead of living to tell about it, someone stabbed me in the back. Well, spelled me in the back if you want to be technical. Since my brand new status as 'master of death' I was allowed a single wish to make up for it. I wake up in a small town called Pallet and I'm in the body of a toddler. I knew there would be a catch.

'The sun soul' inspired me to write this. This story is meant to be a dark story of the pokémon universe. I doubt I'll be as good as the author of that story but I'll do my best.

Pokémon are powerful creatures that can just as easily rescue you as they are to eat you alive. Pokémon in this story are actually mutated forms of the animals we know. How it happened is still a mystery. Some pokémon though are entirely designed and created by humans. Unfortunately the majority of these created pokémon rebelled and slaughtered their human creators.

All three items are fused into a single ring. The ring can only be removed by Harry himself. The ring has a simple charm on it so that it can't be seen by those that intend to steal it and even then Harry has to 'show' the ring to them in order for the charm to lift temporarily. With the ring Harry can still use his magic, the stone part allows him to communicate with both the living and the death allowing him to read, write and speak any language he wishes and the cloak part allows him to be invisible to death and to any mortal. Specifically, the cloak protects Harry from death until he dies from old age. That doesn't mean he is immune to illnesses, hunger or thirst or wounds.

Harry can summon someone from the next world to spy for him though it will constantly drain his magic.

A wish from a God!

Chapter 01

Harry was glaring at the emptiness around him. It was just typical that this would happen to him. The reason?

"Could you repeat that again please?" Harry requested pleasantly. Though it was clear from his posture that he was very very angry.

"You are the master of death of your world. Your time-line. However, I cannot bring you back to a body that is literally completely destroyed. The curse completely destroyed your body. Nothing is left. To compensate for this, I've been authorized to give you a single wish with literally no limitations as long as you don't return to your world of birth."

Harry's only companion repeated once more. The companion wasn't just about anyone. No. This was death himself. Itself. Herself. In a form that a mere mortal like Harry could perceive. Why was it then that death looked like Severus Snape?

"Just how unlimited are we talking about here? Usually if one is talking about complicated wishes then that implies multiple parts even though its only a single wish." Harry said carefully.

"Correct." Not Snape confirmed.

Harry blinked several times. _"Okay, now THAT is creepy. I wonder if it would count as a wish if I asked him to change his form. It's really creepy to see the shape of Snape smiling at me of all things."_ Harry shuddered.

As if it could hear his thoughts, the shape of Snape shifted into what Harry recognized as his grandfather on his mother side. He only had seen the man a single time but he remembered it clearly because he hadn't been as mean as his aunt, uncle or cousin. Unfortunately, the man had died shortly afterwards.

"I'll say again, you cannot return to your world of birth as Harry James Potter. He died period. Other then that the sky is the limit as you mortals say." Not grandfather Evan said. Lord Death, disguised as grandfather Evan could seen the cunning in Harry's eyes.

Harry took that as a hint that pretty much anything was possible with the only exception being that he couldn't return to life. He couldn't return to Ginny. Part of him didn't care though. At least in the next world, there would be no impossible expectations upon him.

"_Now, being a wizard is a part of just as much as breathing is. That means I have to keep my magic. Definitely."_ Harry reasoned. Yes, having access to his magic was a must.

"_However, my Hogwarts education was far from... complete. Considering what sort of crap teachers it had. So, if I appear in another world then I would need access to spells, theories or just information in general. So a library of some sort."_ Harry reasoned.

"_Wait, does this count as two wishes or only one? Damn, I wish I had something to write this down. Why couldn't he just define more limits? The last thing I want is to offend the being that can make my existence a living hell. Literally."_ Harry thought darkly. Harry shook his head. The being that wore his grandfather's image had said he had no limitations. It would be his own fault if he asked for too much.

"_I'm still missing something about this though." _Harry mused. _"Even if I have a literal limitless library, if there is a spell like the Patronus that needs a different part other then an incantation and a wand movement then I need some way of me being told. Besides, I can't see myself reading and reading and do more reading. That was Hermione's obsession."_

Harry shook his head again to clear it. _"Actually, I think there's an easy answer for it. I need a teacher that has access to whatever information I need. Additionally, the teacher should be able to create books in order for me to read the theory of.. Whatever will interest me."_ Harry thought.

Harry gave himself a nod. _"So far, keeping my magic and access to a teacher that can teach me anything I want and can create whatever I need sounds pretty amazing. Especially if I can develop my own broom!" _No, **that** was his own obsession. Flying. Most definitely.

Harry considered for a moment an old hobby of his. He had read every comic he could get his hands on and had even managed to stick around in a club for a while. That was before his Hogwarts days. This meant he was aware of many stories. Harry had always found it a very nice idea to visit these worlds for real. To teach the villains a lesson what happened if you harmed innocent bystanders. But before that...

_Okay, that's a very nice thought but before that I need to keep other things in mind. I need a secure space if I want to do **that**. I need a place to store important items, or just stuff that's way too big for me. Maybe a vault of some kind that only I can access? Yes, that would be best. A vault with all gold I owned before since I didn't make a will it's still mine to do with as I please. Maybe I could have a library in there as well. Just in case I feel like picking a random book. Actually, if I just ask to transfer everything I previously owned in the vault then that should cover everything nicely."_ Harry reasoned.

Harry didn't know it but the being that wore grandfather's Evan's skin was actually listening to Harry's private thought and so far he thought that everything was reasoned out nicely. Evan was already thinking of the best way of making what the boy wanted.

"_What did I ask for again?"_ Harry asked himself. He didn't want to forget it so he summed it up again just in case. _"I want to keep my magic. I need a mentor of some kind that can teach me whatever I want of just about any subject I could imagine. This teacher has to be able to create the books I want to read or just about anything else I need. This advisor can use my magic to fuel whatever creation I might need. Finally, I need a vault of some kind that holds everything I owned in my old life. It would be absolutely awesome if I could 'transfer' properties too."_ Harry nodded to himself. He hadn't forgotten anything. Good.

"_Now that I have a secure space, I need a way to visit worlds, dimensions or just about anywhere I want. Well, with the exception of my own world of course. Wait. He said I couldn't return as Harry James Potter, does that mean I can return as someone else? Maybe I can keep an eye on my... No. I wouldn't be able to keep myself from approaching them. Would I?"_ Harry paused.

"_Well, I might as well keep it open as an option."_ Harry decided then and there.

Harry froze again when he thought of something. What about potions? Hell, what about a potions lab? Somewhere to grow fresh ingredients or... what about the stuff that was actually alive? Like the hair of a Thestral or willingly given tears from a phoenix? _"Well, if nothing else I could always just visit the world either before or after my time in order to get the ingredients I wish. But even then... I suck at brewing potions. Well, at least with Snape as a teacher I suck at potions... Does that mean the teacher also needs to be with me? Maybe a familiar that can take human form?"_ Harry couldn't keep himself from groaning.

"_This wish is getting more complicated all the time! I really wish I'm not too greedy with this.."_

'Focus Potter!' Harry scolded himself. _"Get what you need and then move on!"_ Yhea, that sounded a very good idea indeed.

"Take your time lad." Not grandfather Evan said calmly. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. Don't feel pressurized." Not Evan considered for a moment to tell the lad he could follow his thoughts. But that would probably make the lad even more nervous. No. it was better to led the lad think everything out. It gave him plenty of time to modify the stuff he had made as the boy went on.

"_All of that should be in the vault. A potions lab, alchemy lab, science lab... Hell, why not just change it into a vault of some kind that is like the room of requirement? Everything I need would just appear."_ Harry nodded again. That sounded the best solution to him. Now, was there anything else he could possibly need?

"_I'm getting tired of repeating myself all the time, so let's try again and hopefully this is the last time. I need magic, that's a given. I need a teacher with access to whatever information I might need. This guy pretty much needs to know anything I could possibly might want to know. This teacher needs to be in the form of a familiar that can change his form into whatever he wants... yhea! This way I can get limited potion ingredients too! Not to mention free income if I sell them in my own world as a different person. I want to be able to do any magic I set my mind too. Regardless if it's fictional or not. Right, moving onward I need a vault with everything I own, all the properties I won through conquest so that I can transfer them in whatever world I arrive in and of course I need a library with an immortal librarian just to be on the safe side. I can't forget about the most important part of all: a way for me to visit whatever world I want in whatever time I want. So pretty much allow me to go wherever and whenever I want to go. Literally. Just as a safety precaution though.. The library should be limited to what I can actually understand. It would be too easy otherwise. The same goes for my teacher. He can only access information I understand or stuff that's only slightly beyond what I understand. If he's teaching someone else then that limit applies to the other one of course. Yes, that sounds like a safe thing to do. I wouldn't want to destroy the world if I try to do something... Stupid."_

Harry reviewed what he had so far. He had covered pretty much anything he could need. _"Except..."_

Harry realized that he wouldn't be able to visit as many worlds as he could want. He was only mortal after all so...

"_Am I mortal?"_ Harry asked curiously. Best to deal with it right away instead of agonizing over it right?

"That depends." Fake grandfather Evans answered.

"It depends?" Harry repeated. "Isn't it either a yes or a no sort of question? Either I am mortal or I'm not... Right?"

"I assume you don't want permanent immortality but something that let's you live until you had your fun right?"

"Pretty much yes." Harry agreed.

"That's fair enough. Consider this a freebie from me... You'll only age very slowly. Say, six months time for every five hundred years. So a month for a century. A year for every thousand years in other words."

Harry stared at not grandfather Evan. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to hold out for a few hundred years let alone that long! Still, he might as well take what he was offered. Harry was pretty sure that if he stumbled on something that required a lot of time. A LOT of time then there would be other was to guarantee he stayed alive.

"You are cunning lad." Not-grandfather-Evan told Harry. "Very cunning indeed. I won't change it though. A thousand years and you'll age one year with the one exception that if you decide to start over again as a little boy, you'll age normally until you are seventeen."

"_What does that mean?"_ Harry wondered.

"It means what it means." Not-grandfather-Evan shrugged.

"As for everything else... You'll get it all. No exceptions. You will keep your magic. Your familiar will be your teacher and can shift into whatever form is needed. You too can shift into whatever form you want when you learn how to do it. You'll be able to read, write, understand and speak every language in existence. That's courtesy of my old stone. My cloak and wand as well as the stone will be fused into a ring you'll wear. I'll let you discover the rest on your own aside from understanding any language you want. Now, you will get your vault, you will get all the money that is yours and all the properties that can be considered yours. Your dimension travel device will be in the form of a bracelet that's invisible to anyone except you and those you trust and who trust you. You will receive your vault, your library and your immortal librarian. All by all, you'll get everything you want."

"That's pretty much everything." Harry agreed.

Before Harry could say another word, the entity that wore his grandfather's skin but wasn't really him banished him into a different realm. To a calm town known as Pallet town.

The death god allowed himself to smirk. "I've given the mortal changes enough. He only had to specify a preferred age and a location. Since he didn't... Well, at least I'll have my amusement for a while." The death God started laughing insanely before it morphed into something else and then vanished.

**END CHAPTER**

**Harry's familiar will be Hedwig, disguising herself as a extremely rare Mew.  
She'll start at a low level just like everyone else.  
Harry will need to learn how to change his form before he can do it.**

Here is the rank system that I have in mind from top to bottom.

Pokémon master (General)

A pokémon master is the most powerful leader of a nation. He or she defeated the elite four as well as all gym leaders. A pokémon master has dozens if not hundreds of pokémon that obey his or hers orders flawlessly. A pokémon master is extremely fit and can survive pretty much everywhere. Think of a pokémon master as a General because not only does he or she command a lot of respect they also tend to have a lot of human allies as well. The only way to become a pokémon master is to defeat his or her elite four members because they are typically loyal to the region's pokémon master as well as have caught the vast majority of the region's pokémon.

Elite four member (Colonel)

Each region has a number of trainers that are considered the best of the best. They usually number fairly low but are somewhere between one and six. These elite trainers are usually loyal to the local region but that isn't always the case. An elite trainer has to have defeated all gym leaders of the region and have caught a decent amount of pokémon.

Gym leader (Major)

Gym leaders are a furhter step down in the tree of command. They command a lot of respect in the cities they are in because they protect their cities from wild pokémon attack. They have usually at least a dozen trainers loyal to them but usually obey the orders they get from an elite trainer because an elite trainer has more resources available to them then a gym leader has.

Trainer (private)

A trainer travels around, catching pokémon and selling his or her services as an escort. They are typically considered mercenaries. A trainer wants to defeat gym leaders to get their badge that tells anyone they have defeated the gym leader in question. It holds a lot of respect and the more a trainer has the more money he can ask because more badges means more experience and stronger pokémon. A trainer can challenge a gym leader normally for a badge only, or he can together with other allies challenge the leader for his gym. This rarely happens because the gym leader digs himself in typically.

If a trainer defeats all local gym leaders he or she can challenge the elite four and eventually the pokémon master. If he or she succeeds all the way then he or she can declare himself a new pokémon master or the new pokémon master if the old one didn't survive. All trainers are last and only defence that a city or human settlement has against wild pokémon attacks.

**If and when a trainer has a minimum of eight badges he or she can make a request to carry more then six pokémon with him.**


	2. My New childhood adventures And Mew! v2

**Re-published on 19/01/2013**

My New childhood adventures And Mew!

Last time...

Harry was allowed a wish with virtually no limitations. He made full use of it and has now appeared on the edge of Pallet town. He did however forget to mention a place, so he doesn't know where he is and he forgot to mention an age. So he appears as a young toddler. Thankfully for him, the death god wasn't cruel enough to bend his gender as well.

Chapter 02

The residents of Pallet town were used to the occasional wild pokémon battle. It was after all the ways of things. Predators hunted for prey but even prey can put up a big fight. Even the occasional fight didn't get **this** loud though. This prompted the patrolling trainers to wake up the trainers that were sleeping and would replace them later. Typically it was bad news if pokémon were loud.

Pokémon were powerful and frightening creatures. It was said that they were mutants. A human experiment gone wrong when they all rebelled. A virus that changed the animal life of a long time before into what it was today. You couldn't trust a pokémon that wasn't yours because it was as likely to eat you as it was to kill you. Not necessarily in that order.

Pokémon as a general rule tended to avoid humans unless they were being provoked and provoking them was so easy to do it was actually very scary. Even a wild pokémon might decide to defend you if you were unlucky enough to be attacked and leave you alive. Or it might defend you so it could eat or kill you itself. It was for this reason that every human settlement was heavily defended. Another detail that made pokémon very dangerous was the fact that they were very resistant to bullet or gunfire in general. Only the more heavy weapons could injure them and those were extremely expensive.

It was accepted that as a general rule, any trainer of at least five badges could live their permanently in return for their protection. Any trainer that had fewer as five would be allowed to recover but wouldn't be allowed to live their forever. If they had the money they could live in a hotel or with someone else. But they couldn't own property. Still, any trainer could usually sell their services, and the more badges they had, the more money they were given.

The badge system usually worked like a military rank. The more badges you had, the more authority you had over trainers that had fewer badges. These trainers could of course refuse orders but that would only get to bite them in the ass later. Even so, this rule wasn't right all the time. Sometimes a trainer with fewer badges could be more experienced or have stronger pokémon then a trainer with more badges. It all depended on the situation.

Pallet town only had a handful of trainers. And most of these trainers only had a few badges. No more than five with two exceptions. A single trainer with eight badges had usually enough experience and strong enough pokémon to convince wild pokémon to leave them alone. They also had the right to open a new gym provided they had enough underlings to keep the title.

The pokémon of these eight badge trainers were trained enough that they did not need any instruction. Their wild counterparts on the other hand were stupid and would need plenty of instruction in the beginning if they were caught. The longer the caught pokémon remained with the trainer the smarter they became. And in that lay the risk. What would happen if the pokémon decided that it hated its trainer because it was caught?

With the handful of trainers rushing towards the edge of pallet town, commanded by the two eight badge trainers, the only thing they found was a basket with a sleeping baby and a pokémon egg in its arms. All around were wild pokémon edging around the basket but none made any move to try and get an easy snack.

Stories of pokémon able to take the form of humans in order to lure them close prevented the trainers from rushing towards the basket to get it away from possible pokémon predators. The wild pokémon didn't attack the child though. No. It was as if they were trying to get a single peek of it before leaving quickly. It was the weirdest behaviour that any of the trainers had ever experienced.

"What do you think of this professor Oak sir?" One of the civilians asked their local pokémon expert. The man shook his head slowly. "I'm reluctant to say it but I don't have a clue my dear."

SLAP

"I warned you to not call me that **pervert**." The civilian in question -a woman- growled.

The professor just pouted. "Ah c'mon. You know I meant nothing with it this time!" The man protested.

The other woman seemed to consider it for a moment. "Fine then." She sighed. "Maybe you didn't deserve the slap this time." She admitted almost fondly.

"Would you stop flirting in the middle of a crisis you two?" A militia trainer demanded. "For all we know this is just a trap by a trainer pokémon out for revenge!"

It was true. Primitive pokémon left human settlements alone most of the time. It was only when they were provoked that they tended to attack. But deliberate attacks were discovered to be led by pokémon of trainers. For one reason or another they had abandoned their trainer and had fled back to the wilds. These pokémon would often gather pokémon in order to attack human settlements.

Professor Oak and Delia Ketchum tensed and focussed their attention back on the pokémon. By this time however even fewer seen pokémon began to appear. These fewer seen pokémon weren't... Rare by any means but they were still desired by trainers because they were strong and offered a lot of resistance against a lot of types.

None of the trainers there made any attempt to try and catch them though. The body language of their pokémon that were out said it all to them. They would only defend themselves if they were attacked but they would not made any attack themselves. No sir.

Eventually the pokémon began to leave and before anyone really knew it the clearing was completely deserted.

Delia Ketchum sighed and walked towards the basket with her strongest pokémon by her side. The pokémon more respectfully than carefully and Delia ready to jump back at any clue that it was a trap. Part of her knew that this was no trap. But having a baby boy of her own around the same age made her very careful nonetheless.

She arrived at the basket and examined the small child within its confines. The child was as beautiful as any she had seen. Black hair and beautiful green eyes as darker than she had ever seen before. But the thing that decided it more than anything else was the fact that this child looked a lot like her own little boy. The child seemed to be somewhere between a year and three years old. She watched as the child peered at her before closing his eyes, obviously deciding she wasn't a threat. A moment later, the baby boy was fast asleep again.

She didn't touch the child for several long moments until a smell alerted her that the baby boy had dirtied its diaper and needed changing. That did it for her. She grabbed the basket and promptly took it back into the village. Her motherly instincts screaming at her to take care of this innocent young boy. She took it to the local pokémon centre. Small village or not, any village HAD to have a pokémon centre because it doubled as a hospital as well.

When she entered the building, the local nurse took the child which left only the pokémon egg and a letter. The letter could barely be considered that because it was only a few sentences long.

'My name is Harry. The pokémon egg in with me is my partner. I'm bonded with it and cannot stand to be separated with it. No pokémon will allow this to happen and will rebel if you force the issue.'

The letter was not signed.

"Very strange." Delia observed.

Delia gave the letter to professor oak who had followed her inside. The other trainers had resumed patrol but would all remain awake just in case it was a ruse.

"That is strange." The professor agreed after he had read the letter.

"The child is in perfect health." The nurse announced when she returned a few moments later. "I changed him while I was checking him over." She added after a moment. "What will happen to the little guy Delia?" The nurse asked eventually.

"I'll take him as my own. Register him as Harry Ketchum."

"Very well." The nurse agreed. "I estimate he's about a year and a half."

"That's convenient." Delia said brightly. "My Ash has his birthday in six months or so. Might as well take that as his birthday. They look alike enough to be twins anyway!"

"Al right." The nurse nodded. "I'll file the paperwork then."

Delia nodded to the nurse, took Harry and left the building.

"I would still feel better if your Mr mime could stay out around it though." John Oak offered. "Or I could lend you my Arcanine for a little while."

"It's a him professor." Delia corrected. "Please don't refer to my son as an it would you?"

"Oh, yes of course." Oak agreed immediately. "It's more habit as anything else because it's very hard to-"

"To know the gender of a pokémon, yes I know." Delia sighed.

She glanced at the clearing and send out her Arbok. When it looked at her as if to ask her reason for sending him out.

"Lie in wait for any pokémon that might come and seek mischief. Scare it away and if not..." She shrugged.

The Arbok knew what that meant. "Don't worry mistress..." It offered. "I will make sure I bite my prey before I swallow it." That was the reason why she send it out. The pokémon had somewhat managed to gain human speech. Nobody knew how it was possible but there it was.

Delia simply nodded and left the clearing. The Arbok dove into the bushes and a moment later the large snake was gone.

"I still dislike the thought of having an animal that can swallow an adult human whole..." Ibiki muttered. Ibiki was one of the newer and lower level trainers. The senior trainers were training and teaching him so he could visit other gyms in order to gain new badges and thus more respect.

Harry's point of view a few minutes before Delia takes him.

Harry slowly became aware of the area around him and realized several things. One: he was in a basket somehow. How he knew this he didn't know but he still knew it. Two: he had to be a lot smaller in order to fit into any basket really...

That meant that he had lost a great deal of his age... By the time he had reached this conclusion he sensed dozens of creatures seeking a glance from him. Some of those creatures scared him. Not because they looked scary, but because they could literally swallow him as he was right now and he'd only be a snack to boot! Harry didn't know what had gone wrong. He didn't know where he was but wasn't he supposed to go to...

"_Wait... Son of a bitch."_ Harry cursed. _"I never mentioned a location didn't I? I never mentioned an age either!"_ Harry didn't make a noise though. He wasn't about to do anything that could provoke them.

"_Come to think of it, I don't know how to access my vault either. Damn it! What about my teacher or my familiar?"_ Harry asked himself.

Harry had felt the egg he was carrying but had ignored it for the most part. _"Maybe my familiar is within this egg?_" Harry theorized. Either way, he was pretty much helpless as it was. It was only a theory anyway.

Harry remembered that the ring could be useful to him but his magical power was only as strong as his body could have.

Harry used what magic he had available to him and channelled it into the ring. The most he could do was a charm that would make those that meant him harm ignore him or find him uninteresting. It was the most he could do.

And just like that the whispering stopped. Since Harry did not have enough control over his voice box and body in general he was unable to ask a question or to demand more information. It was at this point that he felt himself being examined. Before him was a beautiful woman. He examined her as closely as she examined him. Harry decided that she would allow him no harm and allowed himself to fall asleep. Part of him still not realizing what it meant to be a diaper wearing toddler.

General point of view

one month later...

"_Note to self: If you ever make a deal with a Deity again, make sure to say you wish to be an __**ADULT**__ when you come back to life!"_ Harry complained to himself.

Being cared for wasn't too bad. It was unable to go to the bathroom on his own that bothered him the most. At least he learned a lot even if they didn't know it. People talked around babies. Especially when they assume they can't understand you because they are too young. The woman was Delia Ketchum. The other boy was Ash. The husband and dad had disappeared years ago during a secret mission he had been given. He had been given the same birthday as Ash which was in roughly six months time.

Unfortunately, it seemed that she considered them far too young to be potty trained so that spelled not much good for him. Even worse, it seemed that she was right. No matter how much he tried to train his muscles, he failed to stop fhe flow whatsoever.

Harry had more or less resigned him to being babied. It wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. Even so, he had to be careful not to show himself too smart. Harry decided then and there to keep himself to ash's intelligence until the boy was old enough to talk, walk and go to the bathroom on his own.

"_Ash will better be a super genius because I don't think I can stand being in a weak, helpless body like this!"_

Six months later

Second birthday of Ash and Harry

Delia had doctors examine Harry and they had pronounced Harry a healthy two year old child. About the same age as Ash. And since Harry appeared not too far from Ash's birthday she decided that they might as well share the day. The blanket had said _**'Harry James Potter'**_. Delia had put several messages in various news papers in the hope that family might hear of it. When nobody answered after half a year Delia had filled in the right papers to adopt Harry as her own. Nobody would be able to accuse her of anything.

Harry James Potter became Harry Ketchum. Or when he would get into mischief it would become Harry James Ketchum. Delia had decided to explain it to Harry as soon as he was old enough too understand.

'Ten years.' She decided. 'Ten years would be the date that she would explain it to him.'

Harry had gotten used to his life somewhat. He still tried to walk regularly -once every week or so- but his body was still too weak. Too young to manage it. Well until recently at least. Right about now -at his new birthday party- he was able to crawl just fine and walk too if he was careful.

Ash adored Harry as much as Harry cared for Ash. He had never had a brother of any kind and Ron was more the best friend kind of... friend. Not a brother figure. So yes. Harry cared plenty for Ash. He would keep an eye out if the kid got into mischief, and usually take blame for it. Even though Harry knew that the adults knew who the real trouble maker was. They found it cute that he wanted to take the blame. Of course that's not how they saw it.

Since Harry had never had a 'baby' birthday party with gifts and all sorts of fun he was as excited as Ash was. Harry's birthday party was also when things got a bit complicated.

John Oak had taken the egg to study it but had every intention to return it. Once Harry was old enough to care for it. He had kept the warning in mind and took the egg with him every week or every two weeks when he visited Delia and the kids. The egg always seemed to brighten up -however impossible that sounded- when John took the egg to the Ketchum's. Harry's second birthday was no exception. John Oak even allowed little Harry to touch and 'play' with the egg.

Harry's gut instinct told him that the egg was his best friend. This was Hedwig and she was about ready to enter the world. So when Harry was allowed to 'hold' the egg and touch/play with it he allowed a small trickle of magic into the egg. Harry hoped that his silent command to go back to sleep would keep it asleep because he couldn't possibly care for a pokémon when he had zero independence.

Just typical too his luck, the egg began to hatch.

Oak was startled when he noted out of the corners of his eyes that Harry seemed to be doing... Something. He saw a trickle of **energy** going into the egg with a suggestion to go to... Sleep? Oak barely caught himself from agreeing that it was indeed a good idea to take a nap. What stopped him was his own sense of self -his willpower and his stubbornness that he wasn't tired yet- and the fact that the egg began to _hatch_!

"The egg!" He half yelled half cried. Which stopped the noise that the adults as well as some of the older children were making.

"It is hatching." Oak finished somewhat lamely.

Before anyone could do anything the deed was already under way and nearly finished too.

A small form was pushing against the egg and small tears began to appear over the egg until it began to glow brightly. Not unlike an evolution.

When the glow vanished those present could barely belief what they were seeing. Right there was one of the most viscous/naive and friendly creatures ever recorded.

The Mew pokémon was suspected to be the forefather of all pokémon. There were so few of them left that they were believed to be myth and fiction. When Mew HAD been spotted death usually followed. It was always discussed as to why this happened and one theory was widely agreed upon.

If there was a prince among pokémon it would be Mew. The few sightings of this pokémon when death did NOT follow showed prove that it took care of pokémon and was able to do attacks of all types. The downside was that while the attacks were still very powerful they were still weaker as a genuine pokémon of that type. That didn't mean that the attacks were weak. Not at all. But to have **royalty** of the pokémon race among them...

And Oak realized that the pokémon in the area had known. They had known from the start. It was why his own pokémon were **very** protective of the egg and had been part of the reason why he visited at least once every two weeks. And that was only allowed in exceptional situations.

In normal situations he visited every week. Usually several times in the week too.

Several of the trainers had grabbed an empty Pokéball at the sight of it but paused immediately after. This pokémon wasn't theirs to catch. Their own pokémon seemed to agree with that idea too. So without being noted except by their pokémon the trainers put their Pokéballs away. Each trainer muttered an apology too their partners. For all of them it had been instinct.

Harry managed to say his first word at the party and nobody had any doubt what the child meant.

'He'wig!'

"Did he just-" Delia began "Where is my camera?" She muttered to herself.

"M**y camera if someone has seen it!"** She nearly shouted. Her camera was shoved in her hands shortly after. Delia didn't hesitate to turn it on and focus it on her child.

"C'mon Harry." She cooed. "Say it again." She urged.

"Who's that?" She asked him.

'H'wig' Harry repeated. 'He'wig Hed'ig' he tried again.

"Do you think he's trying to say Hedwig?" John asked his best friend.

Harry giggled and laughed in agreement. 'He'wig' Hedwig' Harry repeated.

"Can you say mummy? Harry?" She urged him. Her camera on standby. "C'mon little guy. Mummy that's who I am!" She urged him.

Harry saw the hopeful look in her eyes and decided to do this for her. "_I swear that if she uses this as blackmail material..."_ He grumbled to himself.

"Mummy." Harry repeated dutifully and pointed towards Delia.

'Harry' and he pointed to himself.

'Hedwig' he finished with a pointed finger to his best friend.

Needless to say that this feat of intelligence stunned most of those that were present.

Harry then rememberer he hadn't seen Ash for a while.

'Ash?' He questioned.

'Wher' Ash?'

Harry stretched his senses, not expecting to find any trouble but still couldn't find his little brother.

"Delia where **is** Ash?" Oak asked her.

"He should be right..." She trailed of when the eating chair was empty.

This caused the party to be aborted early and several of the trainers to be send out for Ash. Ash was found but would never be the same again. Why and **how** he had gone out nobody could figure out. Had he felt jealous? Had he felt alone? Was it a coincidence? Either way the previous loud, excitable child was changed into a shy quiet little boy.

Three years later

Harry and Ash are five year old.

'Harry, Ash!' Oak all but shouted. "Get your buts right here unless you want me to call your mother and do it for you!'

"Nuh uh" Harry laughed. "You look way to funny to do that!" He yelled back.

Much had changed in these last few years. Harry and Ash had grown into two rascals. Both of them could get into mischief without too much trouble. Pokémon tended to listen too both of them without much trouble too. Much to their trainers disgruntlement. "Why do you listen to them and not to me?" They would complain to their pokémon.

Both the pokémon and the trainers didn't mind really. Because when it came down to it, the pokémon would listen to their trainers first and the little boy's a late second. But complaining to their pokémon would make the children always giggle and laugh.

Ash still hadn't recovered from whatever had happened to him. John Oak suspected that the little boy had startled a psychic pokémon. Since those were usually easy startled but not angered it had been able to stop itself to attack the boy. But whatever attack it had been had already effected Ash. The downsize was that Ash was really shy. The good side was that Ash really connected to pokémon. He had a way with them that impressed all the trainers both visiting and permanent local.

Ash was a regular customer in the small pokémon centre. He was able to calm injured pokémon down until they allowed treatment.

Harry on the other hand seemed to be noisy enough for the both of them. He seemed to know what Ash wanted without asking. The two boys were as close as two friends could get. And it was today that Ash would finally 'get' his favourite pokémon. This particular pokémon loved Ash in return. Nobody knew where it came from since this particular type usually appeared several 'territories' further pokémon wise. But a Pikachu had suddenly appeared when the two boys were playing. An unknown Pokémon had been startled and had attacked.

The Pikachu had shocked it (literally) and driven it away. It had refused to be caught by any trainer and had fought very viscously if a trainer tried to do so. But a wild pokémon was still a danger. No matter how friendly it seemed. The Pokéball would not only keep it somewhat safe if it was injured, but it would 'teach' some basic things too. What was acceptable and what was not.

When his mum tried yet again to catch it, Harry finally decided that enough was enough. Harry calmly pick pocketed an empty Pokéball from his mum and handed it to his little brother. With some urging Ash had walked closer to the Pikachu and put it on the ground after nudging it a little closer. The Pikachu had seemed to consider the situation before it nudged the Pokéball and allowed herself to be caught.

Harry had once again stunned the adults present. Harry showed Ash how to call his pokémon forth and recall it. Ash did so as well a five year old could. The pokémon reappeared and made it clear that it didn't like the Pokéball at all. Since the adults knew Harry could understand pokémon better than most Harry translated it with a single few sentences.

"Pikachu doesn't like the Pokéball. It's willing to go back if she is hurt but wants to stay out for the rest of it." Harry explained simply. Younger children were known to know what pokémon were saying. But this seemed a bit too literal. Could Harry actually be able to communicate with pokémon?

Another five years later

Harry and Ash are both ten years old.

"Harry I need to talk to you." Delia called. "Ash, go and play with Pikachu would you? Harry can tell you afterwards." Much to her surprise both Harry and Ash shook their heads.

"What you can say to me you can say to Ash mum." Harry said simply.

'I suppose.' she agreed reluctantly.

One difficult conversation later and two embarrassed boys left the living room.

"This is **your** fault you know." Ash grumbled to his big brother.

"My fault?" Harry parroted. A small smile on his lips. "It's not my fault that she explained something I already did to you."

"But why couldn't I tell her that then?" Ash whined. "The we wouldn't have been as embarrassed as we were!"

"I sadly must inform you that **'I'** was not embarrassed." Harry told Ash smugly.

Ash looked momentarily confused when he remembered a certain something that Harry did not want anyone to know. **Especially** not his mother.

"Ah yes." Ash nodded. "Those weird magazines and that video tape you watch secretly when she's out and after bribing the babysitter."

'SHH' Harry hissed. "Why don't you shout that all over Pallet you Rascal?" Harry growled.

"Let's pretend you never said that right?" Harry suggested.

"To answer your original question; I might have missed something. I'm not experienced she is."

This reminder caused Ash to blush when he realized what Harry was implying.

"**Eww!"** The boy cried. "That's..."

"The way of life?" Harry suggested.

"That's just **wrong** to think about." Ash nearly shouted.

"Mum did ask to talk to me alone remember? Maybe she already knew that I would say that and wanted to embarrass us both?"

'NAH!' Both boys chorused.

'Impossible!' Ash declared.

'Ridiculous' Harry agreed.

'A rock has a better sense of humour than mum has.' Ash added.

'It wouldn't matter because she could never defeat...' Harry continued.

'The undefeated twins of prank terrors!' They finished together.

And just like that they were serious again. All the previous teasing forgotten.

"So she still didn't tell you **that** secret?" Ash asked.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not supposed to know about it remember?" Harry reprimanded him.

"But yes. I think **that** is what she wanted to share with me. She probably thought it would be easier with me alone than with a certain brat sticking his nose-"

Harry was cut off when he was tackled by Ash. "I'll show you who the brat is!" Ash promised with a grin.

Neither boy had noted Delia following them from a distance. Neither noticed the hurt look when Ash talked normally against Harry when he would barely say anything against herself. They did not notice the shocked look when Harry revealed he had already taught Ash about the birds and the bee's. Her expression changed several times when she realized the nature of those magazines. She considered what she should do with them but then figured that the forbidden fruit would look so more desirable if she forbid them. Besides, facts were facts. She couldn't hide nor ignore the facts of life.

Besides... She might 'leave' a few magazines around for them to 'find' with a few suggestions that might make them even more embarrassed not to mention confused.

When Delia realized that Harry might already know about him being adopted she felt hurt and confused. How was it possible that he knew about that? Nobody in Pallet would tell him because it wasn't any of her business. Had she misspoken?

No.

She was pretty sure she hadn't. Then how was it possible he knew? Maybe it was one of those 'children know by instinct' things that science couldn't explain? Or it might be because Hedwig told him. That little creature had telepathy and had no reason to keep it to herself.

She would confront Harry with it nonetheless. A moment later her face changed in what would make her old fuck body run in terror.

**She** didn't have a sense of humour? Delia allowed herself to plan a few more pranks that would teach them not to mess wit her.

Delia the Jester would make another appearance. Once to remind the residents of Pallet town why it was a stupid idea to mess with her. And another to teach her boys a lesson that she was the **best**.

Four years later

Ash and Harry are fourteen

Harry and Ash still shuddered at any mention of their punishment four years ago. They had tuned down their jokes immensely. Until now actually. It had taken four years of preparation but they had figured out acceptable payback for their embarrassment four years ago and as a bonus, it would go off AFTER they left Palet town. It would give her time to cool off and call a truce.

Harry and Ash were fit for their age. They had been taught martial arts, how to effectively wield a knife and how to use it to kill a pokémon should it try to attack and without a pokémon to defend themselves. Both knew how to survive in the wild, had a decent amount of funds available and their pokémon were twice as strong as the average wild pokémon near Palet town. Not that this meant much compared to the stronger ones.

Both boys had considered catching another pokémon. Having one in reserve was always a very good idea. Pokéballs were expensive and not easy to get though in the smaller towns. Especially if they had to be exported from a big city. Ash and Harry had decided to save their earnings, order them anyway and then use them when they would go on their training journey. Their goal was to become pokémon master and second in command respectively. Who would be who would be decided on a later date.

One of the most important items a trainer could have was a Pokédex but such a thing was ridiculously expensive to make and would only be given when a trainer earned four badges. Few trainers got that far but the ones that did were usually strong and effective. Various groups had been arguing to tune it down to two but so far they hadn't had much luck.

X

"Harry, a word please." John Oak called.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked curiously.

"You know how rare a Mew is don't you?" John asked him.

"Yes, of course I do." Harry nodded. "You nearly orgasmed at the sight of her." Harry added with a smirk.

Oak ignored that comment and pretended Harry never said it.

"I want you to catch a new pokémon as soon as you can and not use Hedwig until you got a strong team." John held up his hand to stall the protest that John knew would come.

"Hear me out little rascal." Oak growled playfully.

"The sad truth is that if it is known that you have a Mew of all pokémon as part of your team, thieves and and other low scum will be coming after you to take her away from you. They won't care if they will have to kill you first."

Harry knew that even with his magic and his training he was stronger and safer than most trainers. Since Oak didn't know anything about that though he kept silent about this.

"Don't worry uncle Oak." Harry told the man. Calling him uncle meant that he was completely serious.

"I can take care of myself and Hedwig is stronger than most rookie pokémon." Harry told him.

Harry could see that Oak was still worried. He decided then and there to show Oak a small part of his magic.

'Watch.' Harry said simply. Harry made a face to make it seem as he was concentrating a lot and then...

Oak frowned at what Harry was doing. He was about to say something when he realized that he was moving... Upwards.

'Hey!' He yelped in surprise.

Harry had floated Oak a meter or two in the air and had moved him above a source of water. Harry then released his hold over his magic.

Oak realized what was happening but was helpless to do something about it. He felt himself fall to just above the water where he stopped again.

Harry made a point to float Oak over the deepest part of the small lake and then drop him over solid ground.

Harry and Oak had went behind Oak's home. Nobody had seen Harry's little demonstration.

"I can do more than that too." Harry declared after a moment. "But doing this is relatively easy." He added after a moment.

"Surprised?" Harry asked after a moment.

Oak was speechless so Harry made use of it to leave and head towards the front of the home.

"Oh and John? I approve about you and Delia. A 'little' surprise coming after nine months would be just perfect. Or maybe several 'little' surprises that take nine months to grow? And if that isn't a hint I don't know what is."

With that statement Harry was gone before Oak could say anything. Oak never noted he stood just on the edge and he only needed to either loose his balance or a gentle shove.

A breeze surprised him for a moment but it was enough to shake his balance and then...

Splash!

'HARRRRRY!'

End

I realize that I probably **shouldn't** work with levels, but it's easy to use. Anyway, pokémon aren't limited to only a mere hundred levels.

Harry's pokémon

Level 10 Mew (psychic) FEMALE

Ash's Pokémon

level 13 Pikachu (electric) FEMALE

Even though Harry is fourteen already he can only do small bits of magic. It's not like he could practice his spells somewhere alone. The only way he can get more control over his magic is through his pokémon journey. In terms easier too understand: Harry is still on a first year level. Remember that he doesn't have a wand, only a ring. He can do small stuff, open or lock a lock. Summon something to him or float something. You know, small Jedi tricks.

Just in case there's any doubt: Harry and Ash are BROTHERS. Nothing more, nothing less. They've seen each other naked plenty of times before and aren't bothered by it, but they will NOT do... More. I know I can't say it any clearer then that. Besides, you can't exactly be shy in the wilderness.

Kingdark


	3. The vault! v2

**Re-published on 20/01/2013**

The vault

Chapter 03

Harry, Ash and most of the population of pallet town were all together at the edge of Pallet town itself. The border of Pallet town was surrounded by a high fortified wall that had seen better times. Plant life were constantly being removed to prevent it from weakening or suffocating the only obstacle between blood thirsty pokémon and easy prey. But even doing this was nothing to what maintenance should be. At its strongest point it would have been able to take a tackle from a medium sized (Raticate) several times. And now it seemed that its little brother would be able to take the wall down with only a few tries.

All around the walls were fortified towers that had been updated to be lit with torches and electrified lights. Those same towers also were equipped with special holders designed or Pokéball. Now these holders were empty of anything. Trainers were expected to keep their pokémon with them. In times long since past the even the walls of a small village like pallet town were being regularly patrolled by professional trainers with a minimum of six badges each.

Now... The wall was patrolled by a single trainer once a day at random times. The other four 'official' trainers didn't bother. The only reason this single trainer did anything was because he only had three badges. His pokémon needed the experience and he was bored.

Since the Kanto region was on the edge of civil unrest and possibly with civil war shortly after, it was Ash's dream to become a pokémon master and to unite the Kanto region. The leader of 'his' elite four would be Harry of course. Ash dreamt to not only unite Kanto but to hire as many trainers as was needed to update every little town so that they had sufficient defence should they ever be attacked by pokémon... Or rogue pokémon trainers. Ash wanted the resources that even eight badges would bring to either take down team rocket or to take control over it as long as it could further his goals.

Harry 'joined' Ash as his first 'minion' because he was fascinated by pokémon and wanted to know as much as he could about them. Aside from that he wanted to gather the strongest team of pokémon as he could. His library and Hermione had taught him a lot. But real experience always had theoretical knowledge beaten.

Ash and Harry were expecting a few gifts to make their journey easier. A tent, a blanket, a few potions or even some money. Anything was appreciated.

The people of Pallet town had all come together to give them not 'many' useless things but 'only' a few that were actually useful. They were given a good tent that was big enough for four people. They were given a decent amount of money (credits) and a decent amount of supplies.

First, the two boys had to travel through the 'light' forest that surrounded pallet itself. Their goal was a small outpost a few hours outside the first part of Viridian forest. The first part was the most 'peaceful.' The second part was far more dangerous. Past the first part of Viridian forest was Viridian city. Viridian city was followed by the second part of the forest and then pewter city. So technically the second part of the Viridian forest could be called Pewter forest instead.

Both boys intended to try and capture another pokémon as soon as they could hunt one down. Unfortunately their luck seemed to be down considerably.

Once the gifts received along with a promise of regular reports, Harry and Ash walked on the main road out of Pallet town. Ten minutes later they were entirely alone except for each other, Pikachu and Hedwig.

"Are you sure we can't just ask Hedwig to convince a pokémon to join us?" Ash asked again.

"Yes Ash." Harry said quietly.

"I'm sure. Hedwig refuses to take advantage of her 'royal' influence. Besides it doesn't work like that. Just because she is considered to be royalty doesn't mean that pokémon will obey her wishes right away. Would you listen if some 'heir' of the dead royal line would pop up and tried to order you around?" Harry asked him.

Harry didn't give ash time to respond. "Besides, even if it WOULD work which it won't, we need to battle a pokémon before capturing it. Not doing so will insult its pride and that liable to get you killed in the middle of the night."

"What about using... You know. **That.** To get us through this forest? Ash asked after a moment.

'Ash...' Harry growled.

"Are you trying to find the end of my patience?" He demanded.

"You know just as well as I do that I can't risk using **that** unless it is an emergency that risks my or your life. Having Hedwig as a partner will call too much attention to me too my liking already. What do you think will happen if people knew I could do **that** as well?" The former wizard remind him yet again.

"Don't get me wrong. If we get in a sticky situation I will use it to get us out. If I can get away with it unseen. Otherwise I'll just kill anyone that knows about it or if they are useful, I'll change them into your servants." The boy continued.

"Nonetheless, the longer we keep my birthright a secret the more use I can get out of it. But I suppose that I will most likely be forced to use parts of it it anyway while we are in the forest. We don't have a fire pokémon and those can kill bug pokémon very easily."

"I know that already!" Ash retorted. "But you know... I'm proud of you that you can do all that stuff. I don't want to hide you. I don't want to act like you are a freak of nature. Because you are **not!"**The trainer continued.

"But I suppose that I can understand the advantages of keeping it private. If you are going to be my advisor slash bodyguard slash second in command you need as much advantages as you can." The boy reasoned.

'Oh?' Harry asked. "And since when did you decide I would take **all** of those positions?" He asked with a smirk.

Ash stopped walking to stare at his brother. Adopted or not. "You mean that you won't?" And even though he didn't want too, tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. Even the thought that Harry would refuse that position hurt like hell.

"Of course not." Harry snorted. "I would be glad to do all of that for you." He continued. "But maybe I wanted to be in command of your future army? Or maybe I wanted to be in command of the pokémon themselves?" Harry pointed out logically.

Ash frowned in thought when he realized that Harry was struggling to keep his laughter under control.

"You are teasing me!" Ash realized. "Come here you-" And Ash expressed some words he would never have dared to utter in the vicinity of the village let alone his mum(my). As Ash called her when he was sick a few months ago. A fact that Harry wouldn't let him forget about.

Ash tackled Harry playfully. Harry on the other hand knew that -now- wasn't the time for it. So for once he made use of some old instincts and reversed the grip to get Ash stuck against the ground.

"Normally, I don't mind play fighting with you." Harry expressed his opinion. "But right now, in territory of pokémon it isn't the best idea to play fight another human." Harry told Ash seriously.

"Al right, aright already!" Ash said quickly. "We'll finish this later though." He promised.

Harry was silent and couldn't decide if he would be angry or just annoyed with the little man. "Let's put this on hold until we get into Viridian city itself. Don't think you are of the hook. We just can't afford to get into a shouting match in the middle of pokémon territory.

Ash decided that he would try and catch a Pidgey to distract himself a little. Harry was right. If they were too casual about being here they would be dead very quickly. Even Hedwig couldn't kill a dozen insulted pokémon. Not without going all out and not without basically saying 'here I am, come and get me' to the more... Bloodthirsty pokémon deeper into the forest.

First night...

Harry and Ash were camping out for the first time. They had set traps around their tent and Pikachu was was alert for any pokémon that would try to attack them. Hedwig was invisible and invisible in a corner of their tent. Her senses spread widely enough so she would know the moment something happened.

They were about one third on the way to the outpost. Two more days and they would be there.

Two days later..

Ash and Harry were coming near the outpost and were completely on edge. The forest was silent and you could nearly taste the tension in the air. Something had happened and it had put the local pokémon completely on edge.

Hedwig had come out of her Pokéball shortly after they had cleaned up their camp. It meant that Hedwig thought they could use the extra fire power. Neither boys had a change to catch a new pokémon so they only had two between the two of them.

"Now I wish we had a flying pokémon." Harry complained to himself. He sensed Hedwig was about to offer that she change into a flying pokémon herself. He stopped her because she wasn't strong enough yet to defend herself against the bigger flying pokémon. They would recognize Hedwig as a tamed pokémon and 'royalty' or not that wouldn't matter much to them.

Harry could see that Hedwig didn't like it but at least she didn't argue. Her ability to shift into other pokémon forms was something that she could do but only for a short while. And she had to focus really hard while doing so. Harry suspected that it was because she was so young. Pokémon tended to age rather slowly. There were rumours that the older pokémon could become centuries years old and be barely middle aged if you compared them to human terms.

The point was that between Ash and himself they only had two pokémon at their disposal. Too few even if you stayed close to a human settlement.

Harry and Ash continued walking. Harry could sense the tension from various pokémon that were watching them. None of them dared to attack. It meant that whoever had done... Whatever had done something to cause the 'weaker' pokémon to fear them.

"I think something might have happened to the people of the outpost." Harry said after a few minutes. "We should have encountered at least one trainer already." Harry continued.

"You know what the police does to people suspected being connected with team rocket." Harry told Ash.

"We can either continue and risk ruining our name and reputation, probably causing your dream and my own dream to be an impossibility or I can teleport us home." He finished.

Both boys stopped walking.

"Could we continue and when we get more evidence return to Pallet?" Ash asked eventually.

'No.' Harry answered immediately. "Hedwig needs time and concentration to take even one of us. Transporting us both is going to cause even more strain and possibly more energy than she has. It will cause her to faint from exhaustion... If I'm right."

"If you are right?" Ask repeated in confusion.

Harry just shrugged.

"It might be that I'm seeing things that aren't there. And if that is the case we'll lose a few weeks at minimum because any news will take time to get public. If it gets public at all." Harry finished.

"This is a damn if you do and damn if you don't situation." Ash said eventually. "Let's continue to the outpost. If we are careful we can turn back and still get out of here. Can Hedwig teleport on the move? I mean, begin concentrating, gathering the energy and then store it to use later?"

'No.' Harry replied immediately.

"Fine then." Harry added. "Let's continue and see if we can catch a pokémon -any pokémon but preferably a flying type- and continue to the outpost then Viridian forest and then the city. And Ash?"

'What?'

"Be prepared to tell Pikachu to kill anyone that acts suspiciously or doesn't have identification. _**Anyone**_ can be a Rocket. We can't afford to be seen with them. And..."

'And?'

"Be ready to kill some yourself. Be ready to kill the trainers and forcefully recall their pokémon. In short: be ready for **anything**." Harry finished grimly.

"I will be using my tricks to make us unimportant." Harry added. "I don't like doing even that but I just realized that our lives are obviously more important than keeping my tricks a secret."

Having said that, Harry and Ash both upped the pace a great deal. Hedwig had retreated into her Pokéball and Pikachu was resting on Ash's shoulder. She would need all the energy she could get.

For the next few hours Ash and Harry continued to walk or rather it was a very fast walk. Faster than a casual jog but not actually running full out. It was very tiring and both were sweating a lot but they wanted to get to the outpost as soon as the could. They had been training for their journey for years. Ever since the time that Ash had decided he wanted to become a pokémon master Harry had been pushing Ash and himself to the limit. The people from Pallet town had helped them as well. Knowing on some level that they might never see either child ever again.

The Kanto region was dangerous and child or not did not make a difference for a hungry pokémon.

Finally, FINALLY they managed to reach the outpost in record time. Neither boy realized that they had travelled that much distance. Either that or they had overestimated the distance between Pallet and outpost Pallet.

Both trainers approached the property cautiously. It was never a good idea to enter like a rampaging Machoke. But the outpost was utterly silent. Not a single trace of a sleeping or patrolling pokémon.

"Can you hear anything Pikachu?" Ash asked. The Pikachu shook her head in the negative.

Harry put his hand on the ground and focussed his magic into the ground. It was a very low level 'ground' type magic. A dozen small figurines actually appeared to grow from the ground. They had just enough intelligence to obey simple commands.

"Explore that structure, search for traps and look for anything suspicious." Harry commanded.

The figurines based on the 'toy soldier' he had played with when he was a child actually saluted and ran into the property.

To say that Harry could talk to the toy soldiers -the simplest way to call them- would be wrong. He could 'see' and 'feel' what they were feeling. They couldn't talk but they did have a small ability to see and remember what they see. Once they accomplished what they saw they would transfer their memories into one 'toy soldier' and then merge together into one larger figurine.

When Harry realized that the house was full of corpses, with no pokémon in sight Harry realized that they were in trouble. Harry had counted on an experienced trainer to get them through the forest. He had counted on the fact to have -if only temporarily- a senior trainer as an ally to help them catch a pokémon. It was something that they did.

Harry realized that the road for stronger pokémon to attack Pallet was now open. He didn't know if there were any survivors.

There were no traps except for a vault of some sort that had been attempted to open but had failed. Scorch marks and such were proof that pokémon had attacked it. Maybe they had run out of time?

"Ash, stay here." Harry ordered briskly.

Harry took the Pokéball of Hedwig and send her out. "Hedwig, cover me while I enter the house. Ash, Pikachu secure this area as best you can."

Ash and Pikachu instantly obeyed Harry's orders. Harry had two sorts of 'voices'. The first was his casual voice. When he was being nice and friendly. That voice was used for casual pokémon battles between himself and Ash and the occasional visiting trainer. It was used to joke around but also to express his annoyance.

His other voice was his command voice. His scary voice. In other words: when he used **that** voice you better did as he said or you were in big trouble.

Ash looked outside the property to check on the small walls that kept the smaller pokémon out. They were trashed. Ash tried to use branches to block the openings somewhat but knew that it would barely slow even a Rattata down.

-With Harry-

Harry entered the house cautiously. The toy soldiers had explored the first level already and had deemed it safe. The 'vault' was below ground so they had covered the cellar as well. The only thing that was left was the second and third floor.

Ten minutes later Harry felt that the toy soldiers had merged into one and that the one soldier was making his way to himself. The soldier had grown a lot because of its merged status. It was the size of a teddy bear and roughly thirty centimetres long.

Harry focussed on the memory of the toy soldier and while it couldn't be expressed as thoughts, the toy soldier still communicated its experience.

'Upper floor is clear.'

'No living beings.'

'Technological devices still remain'

'Do not know if broken'

The toy soldier fell 'silent.' Harry nodded to himself and put his hand onto the toy soldier. He fed the soldier his magic until it signalled him that the price had been paid.

As soon as it was paid he received another memory.

'Call on 'me' when needed summoner. I will answer your call along with my fellow 'soldiers'

If Harry didn't know any better than the 'voice? 'the memory' It had actually sounded amused. He shrugged those thoughts away and explored the rest of the house. He found what must be the supply depot for visiting trainers. A hundred or so empty Pokéballs were divided into groups of six each group having a number that was connected with a corresponding pokébelt that hung up on the walls.

It was odd that those remained. They could be sold on the black market for a lot of money.

'The attackers killed the defenders and the defenders killed the attackers. They killed each other.' Harry concluded after a moment.

All the trainers that were supposed to be there were there. They were dead but they were there. The only survivor might be a trainer that was escorting another through the forest.

'What happened to the pokémon then?'

Of course.

Pokémon of killed trainers tended to flee. And flee as fast as they could.

Harry gathered his resolve and carefully examined the corpses one by one. Practically stripping them for anything useful.

'Hedwig, once I'm done with them on this floor, could you create a fire hot enough to turn them to dust instantly?'

Harry's friend seemed to consider if she could or couldn't. After a moment she shook her head and send a short message to him.

'I can burn the bodies but not inside. If I try to burn them inside I might take the house with me. It's better to burn them outside or just bury them or something.'

"Al right then." Harry said shortly. "I'll drag them outside and you can sink them into the earth. You can do that right?" Harry asked Hedwig.

'I can.' Hedwig agreed.

"Good."

When Harry had stripped the corpses of anything useful he returned to where the vault was. It was unopened and still completely sealed. Harry took a look at the key card he had found. "_It couldn't be THAT easy right?"_

Harry looked for a slot and slid it through. After a moment the light blinked green and the vault door released its lock and unsealed itself.

The contents were amazing. It was a fully stocked... Everything! Weapons, food and other supplies were stored there.

"_This is freaking amazing!"_ Harry thought to himself. Harry opened his connection to his vault and with just a few muttered commands all the contents of the Pallet outpost vault was moved into his vault instead.

Ten minutes later the vault was empty of supplies. All of it was moved into a large room that was an identical copy of the vault he was standing in. Harry left the vault sealed the door again and destroyed the mechanism. Anyone wanting to enter would need to do it the hard way. While Harry was busy in the cellar, the corpses had already been moved outside and sunk into the ground, leaving Ash none the wiser.

Now that the cellar was empty, Harry once more checked the house and gathered anything useful. When Harry was done, he told Hedwig to burn the house down and then they would leave.

Neither the attackers or the defenders wore any prove that could connect them with Team Rocket. That didn't mean much though. Not all team rocket members would flaunt their allegiance like that. If there were still any attackers alive they were long gone by now.

Now that Harry came to think of it, the vault was very suspicious. Why would a small outpost of all places be stocked like that? It had enough weapons and supplies to arm a small army! But that very notion was ridiculous so he dismissed it.

The fact remained that the contents of the vault made it worthwhile to attack the outpost. The technology in the vault alone would make anyone a very wealthy person.

The vault had contained what seemed to be the newest Pokédex's as well. But Harry realized he couldn't use them. Neither Ash or Harry had a badge. And owning a badge was required to own a Pokédex. Period.

'Since the vault had contained anything you could think of, could it still contain pokémon?'

Harry stopped in mid step and teleported into the room. Since he had been there he could always return. He checked the vault one more time and wasn't surprised that he had looked them over.

Harry examined the rack on which the Pokéballs were resting. Each ball had a number that corresponded with a file. After examining it Harry came to the conclusion that the trainers of these pokémon had either died of old age -a rare occurrence- or died in battle. The fact that these pokémon hadn't fled told him that they were loyal pokémon. Pokémon tended to flee if their trainers were killed. The fact that they **hadn't** fled made their character trustworthy. It meant they were raise properly and felt loyalty to their previous trainers.

"_It is a cheap way to expand my and Ash his team. But I'm sure that once I explain the situation to them. I'm hoping that they might escort us through the forest at the least."_ Harry reasoned.

After making sure the vault was empty he teleported back outside and activated the timer of the fire runes he had carved everywhere. The runes would activate once they were far enough. If the runes detected human life they would activate early. Harry hoped sincerely that it wouldn't take the wrong person with them.

End Chapter

Harry's pokémon team

Hedwig, mew, female, level twelve

Ash's pokémon team

x, Pikachu, female, level fourteen

'Kingdark'


	4. Ash versus Brock

Chapter four (4)

Updated on 28/03/2011

Kingdark update: My muse has finally returned! I finally got an idea where I want this story to go eventually. Hopefully I can actually pull it off eh?

I'm reviewing this chapter so I can edit it to suit the changes I made in previous chapters. If I miss bits and pieces I apologize for that. Tell me and I'll correct them. And just to make myself clear one more time:

**'Harry and Ash will NOT be a couple**. '

I haven't decided what sexuality either has. Most likely they'll be attracted to both sexes. HOWEVER, this does not mean I will write detailed scenes. The **MOST** I will do is imply. A hand job, a blow job, implications that character x was taken from behind...

**Here is a reminder what pokémon the Pokéballs contain. (For my own convenience as for yours.)**

'Gastly' (level 10) GHOST + POISON' FEMALE- Harry

'Vulpix' (level 12) FIRE' FEMALE- Harry

'Growlithe' (level 12) FIRE' FEMALE- Harry

'Charmander' (level 14) FIRE + FLYING' FEMALE- Ash

'Scyther' (level 14) BUG + FLYING' FEMALE- Ash

'Pidgey' (Level 16) FLYING + MALE- Harry

As you can see, Harry receives more pokémon than last time. Read and find out the answer eh?

Chapter START

Evening

Harry & Ash's camp

Harry glanced at his sleeping brother and summoned the files he had snatched that the trainers had on the six pokémon that were in the vault.

"_There has to be a reason why they were there. Are these pokémon dangerous? Do they attack humans? If they do then why not destroy the ball to kill the pokémon without too much fuss? The files don't say too much except that they appeared there, tired, exhausted and desperately holding their Pokéball. This implies that their trainer is dead and that they escaped with their lives... _

"_But pokémon usually flee back into the wilds... Can't they take care of themselves? No. It's not that. These pokémon are close. They are most likely friends and don't want to be put in a situation where they might be forced to eat each other to survive..."_

"_But what made them think that going to a human outpost like this would keep them together?"_ Harry asked himself. But then he realized the answer even before he was done asking himself the question.

"_Of course. They didn't expect to stick together. But being separated is at least better than what the wild pokémon might do to them."_ Harry concluded.

"_So who should I send out first? The pidgey is the strongest of the lot so he could be the leader of them... I can't send them all out together because not even Hedwig can handle six pokémon. Especially not ones that were trained. Not without forcing her power to the point where she might hurt herself."_

Harry realized he didn't have a choice but to send one pokémon out and talk to them.

Of all the pokémon the Vulpix called to him the most. Not only could it be incredible viscous... It's evolution could live for a very long time. Not to mention how powerful it could become. Gastly was very useful because she could become invisible and scout the area without being detected. Harry dreamt of flying on a huge bird and doing stuff on it that he could never have done on a broom.

Harry had momentarily forgotten about his animagus abilities. Or he might not even care about them. Who knows?

Harry glared at the author. "I'll have you know that I can use my animagus abilities but that would be just so cheap and cliché. 'Oh, here I am, I can change into whatever pokémon I wish as long as I have befriended them!' Harry glared.

Harry shook his head to clear it. What was he saying again?

The last evolution of pidgey. Right. It would be totally awesome to fly on a huge bird like that! And totally bad ass too.

But the thing about Vulpix that called to him -the age thing aside- was its control over fire. Fire could burn. It could prepare your food. It could scare and intimidate. If you disrespected it, then it would reduce you to Ash or leave you alive to die very slowly if you insulted it too much. Harry idly wondered if Dudley had ever gotten his pyromaniac tendencies under control and if it was contagious. Both Vulpix and Growlithe could become powerful pokémon.

Harry thought back to what had happened shortly after he was done.

**MEMORY – RECALL - BEGIN**

Harry put the Pokéballs on his belt and put a notice me not charm on it. He couldn't have Ash distracted for the moment.

The corpses had been dealt with and he had already placed enough runes on this place to reduce it to dust. '_overkill maybe?'_ Harry shrugged. If there was no trace of it, it could be blamed on team rocket. And that was always a good thing in his book.

Harry exited the building and looked for his little brother.

'Ash!' Harry barked. The boy in question, recognizing that tone of voice anywhere immediately poked his head from... Somewhere.

"We are leaving." Harry told the boy immediately.

Harry ignored ash's questions until they had been walking for an hour. Harry decided that they were far enough and ignited the wards. Even an hour away from the outpost as they were they could still hear the powerful explosion.

"_I overestimated the power of those runes!"_ Harry cursed. They had to get as far away as they could manage. Ash finally realized that Harry wouldn't answer anything and kept up with his pace. They would have to do the first part of the forest by themselves.

"_At least I've got those pokémon in an emergency. But I'm really hoping that they aren't needed. As long as I got my magic I can keep the two of us safe!"_

Harry glanced upwards to try and get an idea how late it was. Even though watches were more than common living years in a place where watches didn't work taught you how to judge time on the position of the sun or the moon.

"_Judging from the position of the sun I only have an hour of sunlight left. It will get darker in here much __more quickly than on open ground. But maybe it's a good thing that we aren't too far away. The strongest pokémon live a few hours further into this forest. We'll make camp at the first good spot we can find."_ Harry decided.

"Ash, look for a place to camp. We only got a little bit of light left and I don't want to stumble around in the dark."

Ash didn't respond but did as he was told. Ash was very good in finding good spots to camp.

**MEMORY – RECALL - END**

_'That was several hours ago."_ Harry reflected.

Harry had summoned several dozen of those toy soldiers and scattered them around their camp spot. The toy soldiers had only one weapon and that was to destroy itself in various ways depending on the situation. A ball of bright light, sort of like a flash bang or an actual low level explosion.

They could destroy themselves as smoke bombs and various other effects. Right now they had the order to destroy themselves with a paralysing effect. Harry glanced at his little brother and noted that he was very still. Harry sighed again. It seemed that he would be forced to explain fully. How he hated destroying the innocence that Ash had left.

Harry allowed a small smile on his face. He knew that Ash wasn't sleeping despite him trying to appear so. And Harry knew that Harry knew that he knew that he was just pretending.

"You are still not good enough to play pretend sleeping you know." Harry told Ash idly. "Don't ever be afraid to speak your mind when we aren't in a dangerous situation. I realize that I should have explained a bit better at the time but I had to act fast." Harry explained.

"Why did you destroy that outpost? It was one of the oldest and most reinforced outposts around here for miles! It was built on a very strategic location and now its useless."

'Team Rocket.' Harry answered him simply. Even though Ash hadn't asked a question. It was still a reason enough for Ash to consider it carefully.

"Did you have proof?" Ash asked carefully.

"No." Harry admitted. "But the corpses were lying in a way that it seemed to be both attackers and defenders. Their pokémon were gone and team rocket doesn't care for its dead operatives." Harry told Ash calmly.

"Did you leave any... Evidence?" Ash asked Harry.

Harry just smirked. "You know me. If and when officials investigate they'll find traces of absolute destruction. Only team rocket is known in having the resources to destroy an outpost like that."

"No direct evidence then." Ash concluded. Harry shrugged. "It wouldn't work in court even if I did leave some evidence. It never did before so I didn't even bother to try. Team rocket has too many connections for it too work."

"If I didn't leave some suspicious evidence then WE might have been the ones that would be accused as their killers. Nobody would care that we only had the bad luck to come on the scene. You know as well as I do that the police doesn't have the Technology or the proper know-how to have a proper Crime Scene Investigator office. We would have been guilty because we were at the scene. Our age wouldn't have mattered." Harry pointed out.

"I looted the place because it would be destroyed anyway. And that's one of the things that team rocket does as well. Okay, so maybe every looter does it when he can get away with it. But not even the biggest backpacks could carry all the stuff in there. Only several people could carry it and get out of there without leaving too many tracks. The fact that there aren't too many tracks points again in specialists. Team rocket is implied only." Harry continued.

"And it's always nice to have something we can sell if we are low on credits." Harry finished with a wink.

Getting serious again Harry reminded Ash that staying at a pokémon centre wasn't cheap. A long time ago this was free. But with the increasing aggression of pokémon the pokémon centres couldn't afford it anymore. Pokémon centres were now often build in the centrer of any village and was the point were trainers often regrouped in case of an attack.

Harry undid the charm he had on his belt. Since Ash was no longer pretending to be asleep he noticed that Harry had suddenly seven pokémon instead of one.

"Where did those Pokéballs come from?" Ash questioned.

"I found them in the vault of that outpost." Harry answered honestly. "But to be honest I don't know if I should send them out. These pokémon aren't registered as mine just yet. I wanted us to be safe before I would send them out."

"What do you know of them?" Ash asked. He pointed at the files that Harry was holding.

"Nothing much really." Harry admitted. "These pokémon are most likely caught by a trainer that's dead. I suspect that they ran and remained together to look for a human place. They would hope that they would find another trainer. And maybe they could stay together too?" Harry shrugged.

"I have chosen Gastly, Vulpix, Growlithe and pidgey." Harry told Ash. "The remaining two are Charmander and Scyther."

"Why do I 'only' get two pokémon?" Ash asked calmly. "You got to have a reason for it."

Harry sighed and glared at the ground. "I do. Sort of at least. I feel... Something with the pokémon I've chosen. I know that Charmander will become a powerful pokémon one day that will be very loyal too you. Scyther will be distant at first but once you have proven your worth to her she will sacrifice her life if that's what you want."

"So you got a feeling and nothing more?" Ash pointed out.

"Yes Ash." Harry agreed. "I got nothing more but a feeling."

"That's good enough for me." Ash told Harry. 'Good night.'

With that statement, Ash lied down and tried to get some sleep. Ten minutes later Harry could tell that Ash was sleeping for real now.

"_You are going to kill me for this later little brother, but I can't risk yours safety should these pokémon be a danger to you."_

Harry carefully drew a sleeping run on Harry's forehead. For a moment it seemed that Ash was waking up, struggling against the power of the rune. But the power was far stronger than ash's weakened defenses and a moment later he was deeply asleep.

Harry grabbed all five Pokéballs and held between his fingers. Then, with a casual throw he send them out.

The five pokémon materialized in a relaxed state. None of them had a reason to be on guard. The last they knew they were still at the outpost. When they saw their surroundings they were on guard instantly.

"My name is Harry. I realize that none of you trust me or even have a reason to trust me but trust me when I say that it is a good thing I found you." Harry told the pokémon.

"The people at the outpost are dead. They were already so when we got there." Harry pointed at himself and his sleeping brother.

"The fact that my brother is sleeping should give you a reason to at least hear me out." Harry told them.

Harry noted that none of the pokémon had moved. "Can I assume that you will at least hear me out?" Harry asked the five pokémon.

The five pokémon glanced at each other as only team mates can and then nodded as one.

Harry told them what happened to the pokémon like it had happened. When he was done about forty minutes later he could tell that they had relaxed just a little bit more.

Harry could tell that the pokémon were sad that those trainers were dead, but weren't as sad as they could be.

"_So they cared about those trainers but not enough to take those trainers as their own."_ Harry concluded.

"I'm not really a person that plays around so I'll get to the point. I need your help to get through Viridian forest and Pewter forest." Harry told them.

"I'm hoping that during that time me and my little brother can prove ourselves worthy to let us keep you. If you still want to leave then that's what you may do. I need not only your help to get through this forest but also to defeat the gym leader of Viridian. Can you do that for me?" Harry asked them.

The five of them seemed to communicate again when Harry was bombarded with images that seemed to tell something disturbing.

'You are master.' The pokémon told Harry.

'We obey trainer.' They continued.

'We don't make choice.' They finished.

Harry realized that these pokémon weren't so much independent as **dependant** on trainers. These pokémon were... Or at least **seemed** broken. How it happened Harry had no idea. The story that the images told him were interesting though.

The images made Harry come to several conclusions.

The outpost had been meant to be a supply depot for enemy trainers. It had been too stocked to be anything but a **small** outpost.

That reminded Harry of something. What happened to Gary? Even though he had only a few hours head start they hadn't seen any clue of him. And Gary tended to leave taunts that were specifically meant for Ash.

"_But this can't mean what I think it means. I only have a little evidence and I suspect that's more paranoia than anything else. But what else could it be? Why and how could a small outpost like this be supplied like this? The only thing it should have offered was a single night under a roof and an escort through the forest as well as being helped to catch a single pokémon."_ Harry reasoned.

Harry then realized something.

"_Of course. How could I be so stupid?"_

"_Of course there will be others that have the same dream as Ash does. And of course there will be those that have had decades already to prepare for it. All the supplies were in the vault anyway. Just my luck that I'm stumbling on proof that there is an invasion coming up. **If** I am right."_

"Why me?" He asked silently. As if in answer a simple sentence drifted on the wind.

'_Everything has a price... There is a balance for everything... A wish for a wish..."_

Harry remembered his decision to use his magic as less as possible while studying it on the side. His plan was relatively simple. Study magic in secret. Keep magic secret. Kill any enemies we make with magic and magically create evidence to blame it on someone else.

The first part was a success. He could use study magic without a problem. There were no other magic users aside from himself after all. None. He had checked it once, than double checked it again and then checked again just to be completely sure. That meant there were no monitoring devices.

No ministry agents to remove unwanted memories. And no magical backup whatsoever.

Keeping the magic secret was only partially a success. Ash knew the most about it but Harry couldn't say how much he knew. He had never asked and Harry wouldn't point it out unless there was no other choice. Harry suspected that **this** would be one hell of a conversation. Aside from Ash nobody knew. Harry suspected that Delia and Oak suspected. They knew that there was something special about him but were never able to catch him in on the act.

And there had been plenty of mischief blamed on Gary Oak in his childhood.

Something had happened that he had never suspected. You cannot deny your magic. Today was the first time he truly realized that. His magic had grown weaker because he hadn't really used it in the last ten years or so. Mischief not included it just had not been enough.

And that part of himself -magic obviously- would not allow -could not allow- itself to be denied. So what was the answer to this problem? He still wanted to keep it private. He wanted to be known as a supporting trainer there for his brother. Harry's main interest was to be a researcher after all. Having eight badges would simply be a big bonus. Proof that he was competent in his care with pokémon. Not to mention the money advantages that you would get.

Where were we again?

Camp fire. Emotional discussion. Brainwashed pokémon.

Right...

Could he 'give' a pokémon that was emotionally hurt like this? Could the pokémon stand for it? If the pokémon would just obey Ash as easily as they did him... And they were stolen... Then he was in big trouble.

Harry looked at the pokémon and asked them a single question. "Will you obey anyone or just me and Ash?" He asked them.

'Our trainer'

Harry took that they would obey the one that held their Pokéball.

Harry remembered the time where Ash send Pikachu out against a rock type pokémon that was practically immune to electricity. The trainer had agreed to let the Pikachu try to increase its voltage against the pokémon.

Pikachu had known to keep trying without being told to do so over again. But a broken pokémon like this? They would need to receive an order for everything they did in battle. This would weaken them by a lot because the enemy trainer **and** the pokémon would be able to counter those orders much easier.

"_The question is... Will other trainers blame **us** for the fact that they need to be told what to do?"_

'No.' Harry realized. "There were plenty of trainers that trained their pokémon to only do what their trainer told them. It happened with newly caught pokémon. It happened with 'young' pokémon and it often happened to the 'stupid' pokémon."

Harry recalled the five of them and considered them again. Were they truly worth the trouble? Was it better to put them out of their misery? Even if they didn't seem to be hurt. Was it truly a life the way they were?

But then Harry realized that Ash wouldn't stand for it.

'No.' Ash would tell him. "I will not let you. Humans caused them to be like that so humans will heal them to be more independent." He would say.

"_Besides, I already promised him two extra pokémon."_ Sort off.

Harry glanced at Ash again and noted that he seemed to be uncomfortable. He wouldn't adjust him to be in a more comfortable position. Not with how deep that he was sleeping.

Harry shrugged. He didn't mind taking care of Ash. He used his magic to vanish the clothes that Ash was wearing and then carefully dressed him in his pyjama. The spell worked for vanishing clothes but not for putting it back on. Not correctly in any case. The boy in question was still fast asleep because of the active rune. The rune in question would begin losing power shortly. The boy could wake up very easily.

Harry took Ash into his arms and put him in his sleeping bag. Harry noted that Ash had an erection and with a smirk used a spell that would give Ash a... Very interesting dream.

While Ash was a few months younger as himself he was still fairly naïve. Including the facts of life so to speak. Harry didn't know -and didn't want to know- the details of the dream but the fact that he had an erection told him that Ash's body was at least mature enough to be having the dreams.

The spell was designed to give the receiver the most pleasant sexual dream that he could imagine. A desired partner would be chosen from his subconsciousness and the... Interactions would be provided by the spell if the receiver didn't know enough.

Unfortunately one had to be asleep before the spell could work. Otherwise he would be having very pleasant nights of his own. Harry cast a very weak privacy spell that would contain any noise within the tend but would alert him if anything entered it. Harry followed the privacy ward with several 'go away wards' and 'notice me not while going away' wards. On top of that were two additional 'nothing is of interest here' and 'you have something else to do' wards.

To break those wards required a strong mind, a desire to talk to them and of course you needed to have magic to break through them. Since there were no other mages on this planet since he had last checked all the wards together was a bit overkill.

Then why was it that Harry wanted to put up a watch? The answer was fairly simple. He -Harry- wouldn't always be with him. And if you were travelling alone -never a good idea- then you needed to be able to go without a night sleep. Or as little sleep you could manage.

Harry allowed himself to fall into a sense of meditation. This state of meditation allowed him to relax and made him hyper aware of anything and everything within a certain distance. He called that area his 'field of vision.' Right now this field of vision was only 'active' when he was meditating. But a person that had mastered it could have it active day and night and know instantly when a person meaning harm came close enough to be sensed. For a master it didn't have to be a person though. Projectiles and other harmful ways would be detected as well although it still made avoiding them incredibly difficult.

Right now his field of vision was only about ten meters in every direction. A true master could increase and decrease that distance as he wanted although it required more energy if the circle was expanded rapidly. Aside from knowing what entered his field of vision, it allowed Harry to be fully rested in no more than three hours. Less if wanted too. When Ash had discovered what he was doing he had called it cheating. He wasn't interested in doing it himself though. The fact that he was only about eight might be a big part of that decision. Harry didn't even know if Ash remembered it.

Three shifts later and both boys were breaking up camp. The five pokémon they had found were hidden in their backpack. They would get to know them later when they got past Viridian city. Hedwig was resting in her Pokéball ready for any fight if she was needed and Pikachu was perched on Ash his shoulder.

They had already covered a great part of the forest and needed only a few more days to get too Viridian city.

Three days later, edge of Viridian forest

Finally they had reached Viridian city. Its defenses were far better then pallet town but that was only logical. No normal pokémon would be able to touch the walls without them being alerted. The only exceptions being floating/flying pokémon and ghost type pokémon.

The lands around the walls were literally a mine field of traps and other dangers. It was far better to follow the main road. The road itself was wide enough for trading caravans to to through yet was designed in a way to make any attacker think twice from approaching that way. Simply cutting the steel wires wouldn't work either. The steel was designed for this exact purpose and could only be cut by a specific tool that was very hard to find.

The layers of steel wire were only the first line of defense. Mist and smoke generators mixed with paralysing powder and poison were scattered throughout the field. And it was rumoured that underground pokémon that lived underground could pop up to drag any foolish attacker underground and... Most underground pokémon digested prey half alive. Not a pretty way to go.

The safe and secure way would give the defenders all the possible advantages they could get. But since it were peaceful times, the gates were open and only a couple of guards with one pokémon trainer were sitting on their post. The pokémon trainer showed off the amount of badges he had by having an official logo and ID number that could be verified with an official Pokédex. This was to prevent cheating.

And since the logo ended with an eight it meant that this trainer had eight badges which made him experienced and not one to be underestimated.

Harry and Ash approached the post with only Pikachu trailing behind them. The guards noticed the pokémon and had it been anything but peaceful times they would have gotten all tense and ready for battle.

"Any reason why you can't have your pokémon in his ball?" One of the regular guards demanded.

"She hates her Pokéball." Ash said simply. "If she doesn't like being inside her ball than I won't force it on her. Unless she's really hurt and recalling her would save her life." The boy added as an afterthought.

"That sounds fair don't you think?" He asked the yellow mouse.

Pikachu just glared at him. "You had to bring this up now of all times?" She demanded. "We'll talk about this later Trainer."

Ash winced. Normally pokémon referred to 'their humans' as Trainer. But just like any other title, it could be said with respect and it could be said in a way that insulted. And Pikachu had just chosen the latter way of addressing her trainer.

"In the meantime, are you up for a battle?" Ash asked the mouse. Pikachu shrugged. "Sure." She agreed.

Ash turned towards the trainer. "Hey, I know that you are a lot more experienced than I am, but are you up for a friendly battle against each other? A one on one battle."

The trainer blinked a few times. "I'm sorry but did you just challenge me?" He asked politely.

"I did." The boy agreed. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything" The boy began "Should I have said it differently perhaps?"

"The trainer glanced at Harry and noted that he was pinching his nose and muttering about brats that couldn't remember anything about rules and regulations that could possibly keep your heads on your shoulders."

"While friendly battles are normally allowed, challenging an officially hired trainer is the same thing as challenging the city itself. In other words it means you challenge the city for the right to rule it." The trainer explained.

Ash just stared at the man not really knowing if he should believe it or not. "You don't believe me don't you?" The trainer sighed.

"I suppose I should introduce myself first." The man began. "My name is Brock. Before I was reassigned I was the gym leader. Now my father... Took that job over and I as the oldest son was reassigned as 'commander' of the troops of Pewter city."

"Why would your father reassign you like that?" Ash wanted to know.

Brock just shrugged. "Give me a good fight and maybe I'll answer you. I do hope that you have a different pokémon than that Pikachu though. Because if you don't..."

Ash narrowed his eyes. The only pokémon that Pikachu had a strong disadvantage at were stone pokémon.

"_That narrows it down a lot. Boy am I glad that Harry found that teaching machine."_ Ash thought to himself.

Ash said nothing and simply moved away a little from the city walls.

Brock just shrugged. "I can see that you won't change your mind so." That said he turned to Harry. "Mind playing referee for this one?" He asked the older boy.

"Sure." Harry agreed.

"This will be a one on one battle. This is a friendly pokémon battle between challenger Ash Ketchum and Brock from Pewter city. First pokémon to be knocked unconscious loses." Harry declared.

Brock calmly chose his pokémon and send it out. 'Geodude, let's show this trainer your skills!' Brock declared simply.

'Pikachu. You know what to do." Ash told the mouse pokémon.

"Trainers... On my signal this match will begin."

'GO!' Harry added after waiting a moment.

Neither pokémon needed an order to charge the other. Geodude opened the match with literally reaching into the ground and taking a piece from it before throwing it at the mouse. Several times faster and faster until Pikachu barely knew where to go to avoid all the big stones.

Fortunately Pikachu was quick on her feet. Geodude realized that this method wasn't working so he stopped throwing stones. This was the moment that Pikachu and Ash had been waiting for.

"Pikachu use _**IT**_ now!" Ash cried.

Pikachu heard the command and obeyed it immediately. Pikachu increased his speed that was commonly called a quick attack and followed it up by his iron tail that was very effective against rock types. It was the only 'steel' move that a Pikachu could learn easily.

The Geodude was caught off guard and was too later to put up a defense. Geodude was slammed against the wall of the city but barely made a dent into it.

"Confuse him with your double team and follow that up with another quick attack!" Ash instructed the mouse when Ash noted that Pikachu was just watching his opponent.

Pikachu shrugged internally. Why not? Pikachu used his double team which made it appear that there were a dozen of him but only one was the real thing. The Geodude was still trying to recover from the iron tail. Seeing a dozen of that same mouse that had hurt him so made Geodude very angry. 'Geodude!' It cried out angrily.

But anger made anyone sloppy and ineffective. That was why when Pikachu charged the stone pokémon with a quick attack it knocked him out completely.

Pikachu was breathing hard. Using iron tail and her constant moving on such high speeds took a lot out of her stamina.

"Geodude is out cold. Pikachu is the winner!" Harry declared proudly. Brock recalled the pokémon with a slight frown on his face. "I suppose I shouldn't have underestimated you. But where did you get the TM for iron tail? Those things are really expensive and neither of you seem to be those typical rich snobs."

"I suppose we just got lucky." Ash told him. Brock allowed himself to smile. "Even though you defeated my Geodude, you shouldn't get too cocky. Geodude was my weakest pokémon and while I'm not in the best relation with my dad he won't be defeated as easily as I was." Brock told Ash.

"_Had this been an official match I could have awarded him with a badge. But since it was just a friendly fight I can't do that. And since father took control of the gym... I find it very interesting that Pikachu knew what to do though. Only pokémon with a strong bond with their trainer don't need many instructions. It is only when a pokémon is hesitating when their opponent seems to be down that a trainer tends to give instructions. Father won't be as easy as I am though. And since Geodude was my weakest..."_ Brock shook his head to clear it.

"You are free to enter the city. I suggest you get some rest in the pokémon centre though. A good nights rest should be the only thing your Pikachu needs. I will show you where the pokémon centre is so come!" Brock said after watching the mouse pokémon closely.

"How do you know that?" Ash asked Brock.

"I want to be a pokémon breeder." Brock told him. "And to be a good breeder you need to recognize various signs of any pokémon. Signs of tiredness or when they show hints they are preparing themselves for breeding season. Or perhaps when they are making themselves ready to charge anything within their territory." Brock explained.

"Unfortunately that's also the reason why my father reassigned me as commander. He doesn't see -or doesn't want to see- the advantages that a pokémon breeder can bring to the city. Home bred pokémon listen to human commands a lot easier than pokémon raised in the wild." Brock continued.

"But since we have reached the centre I will continue my history another time."Brock finished. And before Harry or Ash could say anything he had vanished into the thick crowds of pewter city.

"That was interesting." Harry mused.

"How so?" Ash wanted to know.

"He didn't say it outright, but we might find another ally in that man. If we do it right, we might convince him to join us to learn more about pokémon and for him to become a better pokémon breeder. The fact that he has a gym means he has an underground facility to store caught pokémon and to let them out regularly. He doesn't have to pay the high fee's a normal trainer would pay." Harry explained.

Chapter END

This chapter was edited fairly heavily. I think I might fuse the last two chapter together, depending on how big they get.

The below is to remind you what pokémon go to Harry and Ash. Hedwig and Pikachu are still level ten (10)

'Gastly' (level 10) GHOST + POISON' FEMALE- Harry

'Vulpix' (level 12) FIRE' FEMALE- Harry

'Growlithe' (level 12) FIRE' FEMALE- Harry

'Pidgey' (Level 16) FLYING + MALE- Harry

'Charmander' (level 14) FIRE + FLYING' FEMALE- Ash

'Scyther' (level 14) BUG + FLYING' FEMALE- Ash

Kingdark


	5. Harry versus Ash!

Chapter 5

Updated on 28/03/2011 at 23:12 local Belgium time

Kingdark: Like the other chapters, I am editing this to fit the previous chapters.

If my characters don't know the sex of the pokémon (yet) they will refer to a pokémon as an 'it'.

START

Pokémon centre - evening - Viridian city

Harry and Ash entered the pokémon centre together and noted that it was virtually empty. "Let's rent ourselves a room for the night." Harry told Ash. "We can see if we can squeeze an official win in for practice tomorrow."

"But how am I supposed to win a match when Pikachu is at a big disadvantage and with only one pokémon too boot?" Ash asked Harry.

Pokémon centre - room 2-2 - Viridian city

The two boys had rented one of the smaller rooms. It had only two beds, a desk and a small place to shower. But that was all that they needed. If they wanted to take a relaxing bath they could visit one of the bath for relaxation in the centrer of town.

"How am I suppose to have a chance when I only have Pikachu? Pikachu at present can only manage iron tail once and maybe two times but then she'll be exhausted to the point she'll faint! Its practically an all or nothing move!" Ash argued.

"You'll have Hedwig too you know." Harry pointed out calmly. "You know that she can shift her form into every pokémon she has encountered yet. And since she has met plenty of water pokémon in Pallet that means you'll have a strong advantage against the gym leader."

"I suppose so." Ash agreed. "But won't they protest that I use your pokémon instead?" Ash said after a moment.

"You have a point." Harry agreed. "Then we might have to be forced to use the pokémon I found."

'Right.' Ash agreed.

"Those pokémon will obey the trainer that has their Pokéball." Harry told Ash. "I will take four and you get the remaining two." Harry held up his hand to stop any protests.

"I have a feeling that you will find your own team. But these pokémon... I really feel that four should go to me. The rest are for you." Ash glared at Harry but admitted defeat. 'Fine then.' Ash said rather shortly.

"Don't expect me to be happy with it though.'

Harry gave the Pokéballs of Charmander and Scyther to Ash. Pidgey, Growlite, Vulpix and Gastly were for him.

The two boys send their new pokémon out. The pokémon in question seemed to tense before relaxing when they spotted their Pokéballs in their trainers hands.

The six pokémon seemed to nod before they send themselves back in their balls.

"That's weird." Ash muttered. "I didn't know that they could send themselves back like that."

"They can't." Harry told Ash. "It was the Gastly's doing."

"I want to heal them Harry." Ash told him. Forgetting about his anger for the moment. "Even I can see that they shouldn't be trained to obey their trainer to... It isn't normal that they need to be told what to do for _everything_ in a pokémon battle. It places me and those pokémon at a disadvantage. And not a small one either." Ash told Harry.

"I know." The older boy agreed. "But I suppose if you could win with them, then more difficult battles shouldn't be too much of a problem either."

"Shouldn't..." Ash began. "Shouldn't we at least introduce ourselves to them? I mean, we can't expect them to really trust us if we don't even try... Right?"

"It doesn't work that way with them I think." Harry disagreed. "But I suppose that trying wouldn't hurt either. Why don't we send them out together and we can introduce ourselves together?" Harry suggested.

'Right then.' Ash agreed. He took the two Pokéballs and send Charmander and Scyther out.

Ash followed up by sending Gastly, Vulpix, Growlite and Pidgey out.

The pokémon appeared before them and looked confused for a moment.

'eh?'

'No enemies?'

That was what their cries could be translated as.

"Since I'm your new trainer I would like to introduce myself and my brother." Ash told them.

"My name-" Ash began "is Ash Ketchum. "And that-" He jabbed a thumb at Harry "Is Harry Ketchum my older brother."

Ash pointed to the Pikachu that was watching them carefully. "That is my first pokémon Pikachu. No nickname just yet. She's my only pokémon before I met you. With Charmander and Scyther that gives me three pokémon. I hope that we can become friends!" Ash finished.

'Right then.' Harry began. "Like Ash told you. My name is Harry. I'll be the trainer for Gastly, Vulpix, Growlite and Pidgey. I only have one pokémon as well. Why don't you show yourself Hedwig?" Harry suggested.

"I really hope that we can be friends as well." The older boy added cheerfully.

With a shimmer Hedwig appeared before them in her true form. She had very cautiously probed these pokémon during the introduction and while they weren't exactly completely sane, these pokémon weren't lost. Their 'training' was halted too early for it too have a true effect.

The six pokémon were of course completely caught of guard that a legendary pokémon not to mention ROYALTY would choose to be the companion of a human. And none of them could sense any shape or form of reluctance coming from Mew.

'Maybe the human can be trusted.' Gastly suggested cautiously.

'We should still be cautious thought.' Vulpix told the group.

'I will go along with the pack.' Growlithe said simply.

'Don't care.' Charmander declared. "Humans taste bad anyway." she added.

'Let's vote on it.' Scyther decided. "Do we give the human a chance or not?" She added.

'Yes.' Gastly.

'No.' Vulpix.

'No.' Growlite.

'Yes.'Charmander.

'Yes.' Scyther.

'Yes.' Pidgey

"Tell the human that I won't stand for being separated." The Scyther ordered the ghost pokémon.

'Yes sir.' The Ghost pokémon agreed.

Since their conversation had taken place silently and through a very basic telepathic link Harry didn't know what had taken place.

"We will give you a single chance Human." The ghost pokémon declared.

"We will not stand for being separated though. As long as you and the other trainer remain together we will do as you tell us to do. If you have to separate it needs to be for as short a time as possible."

"Very well then." Harry agreed. Taking a deep breath Harry and Ash recalled their new pokémon once more.

Harry had both the ability, knowledge and the resources to make such an invention. It would be very helpful against aggressive pokémon. The problem was that even now with limited technology people hunted for pokémon. Fur, teeth, fat and other parts were valuable. Especially parts from pokémon that were big and rare. Those were especially expensive on the black market. If he -Harry- introduced fire arms pokémon would be slaughtered from a distance. It wouldn't be limited to pokémon that came dangerously close to human homes anymore.

The next day – pokémon centre

Harry had known that Ash had wanted to ask him something but had been too tired to care last night.

"How will we be able to use all that stuff you found-" Ash began, interrupting himself and already knowing that Harry would know what he wanted to know.

'Black market.' Harry told him. "It could be a source of emergency money."

'Oh.' Ash muttered. "I should have thought of that." The boy complained.

"We shouldn't challenge the gym leader just yet." Harry said suddenly. Changing the subject rather abruptly.

Ash blinked. A few moments passed as he attempted to process the change of subject.

"Why?" Ash wanted to know.

"Because if you lose the first time he might forbid you to challenge him again until you defeat another gym leader. It's not something that's done often but it is always possible. At least when you are challenging him for your first badge." Harry explained.

"What about you then?" Ash asked.

While Harry didn't mind explaining such things to him he was irritated that the other boy seemed to have forgotten about his earlier lessons.

"If you should lose I can still challenge him." Harry agreed. "And it's not a guarantee that you won't be able to challenge him twice you know. It's just better to see if we can work with our new pokémon for a few days before we do challenge the gym leader." Harry explained.

"I suppose that makes sense." Ash agreed.

"And remember that you only beat Brock because he underestimated you and because it was no doubt one of his weaker pokémon. Not that this says much for the son of a gym leader."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"Haven't I explained this to you before?" Harry asked with a touch of irritation in his voice.

'Sigh'

"When a gym leader is present in a city he or she is usually very respected. While the gym leader isn't the official leader of the city he or she still has a lot of political power. Not only because the gym leader has eight badges, a requirement to become a gym leader but also because of the pokémon that the gym leader and his or her followers have under their command. It is not unusual for a group of trainers to challenge a gym leader for the right to be the gym leader. Such battles are not easy by any means and the challenger always has the fewest advantages."

"How is this relevant to Brock? Once a gym leader is comfortable he or she can have a son or daughter. Or several of each. These childeren are then considered the rightful heirs to defend the gym should it ever come under attack. Because any challenger has to defeat all official trainers that work for the gym. If they are all defeated it is up to the challenger to decide the fate of the defeated trainers. We should see what our new pokémon can do and how well they respond to our commands." Harry explained.

"Alright then." Ash nodded. 'How about two on two?' he offered. Pikachu and Charmander against..."

'Hedwig and Vulpix' Harry finished.

'So that's Pikachu, Charmander versus Hedwig and Vulpix?' Ash wanted to know for sure.

'Right.' Harry agreed.

Viridian City - official Trainer Battle Field Location

Harry and Ash followed the instructions that were posted everywhere to locate a somewhat isolated OTBFL or simply put: a location where visiting trainers could battle others.

It had only cost them about five hundred credits plus another two hundred to convince the official referee to skip his lunch break.

"This is an official battle. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town versus Harry Ketchum from Pallet Town. This is a two versus two pokémon battle. Trainers cannot switch pokémon out unless they are forfeiting that match. Are there any questions or remarks? No? Then I declare this battle to BEGIN!"

First round: Pikachu (Ash) versus Hedwig (Harry)

'Let's show our little brother Hedwig!' Harry declared.

Ash preferred a more dramatic way in choosing his pokémon. "Pikachu I choose you!" The boy cried enthusiastically. Pikachu jumped from ash's shoulder onto the ground.

Since the match had already begun, Harry saw no reason to give Ash an advantage in letting him give the first order. "Put her to sleep Hedwig!" Harry ordered. If he was lucky he would be able to take Pikachu down quickly. It would be a valuable lesson for both of them to NOT let their guard down.

Hedwig smirked as well as she could and obeyed the commands of her trainer.

Ash didn't need to give an order to try and evade it because Pikachu was already trying to evade the near invisible attack. Unfortunately it was already too late. Mew was a psychic pokémon by nature. So those attacks were very easy for her. This meant that Pikachu couldn't see where the attack was going and thus dodged straight into it.

The first match goes to Harry Ketchum from Pallet Town.' The referee declared.

Ash grudgingly recalled the electric pokémon.

"Charmander, your turn is now!" Ash said simply, sending its ball out there and catching it as it was bounced back.

Charmander appeared form the Pokéball and took her place.

Second round: Hedwig (Harry) versus Charmander (Ash)

Harry made no move to change his pokémon so the referee nodded. "Both trainers have decided their pokémon the second match will begin in three seconds. Three. Two. One. GO!"

"Charmander, try to burn her so she can't move as quickly" Ash ordered. The fire pokémon nodded. More to itself as to the trainer. Charmander charged towards Hedwig and spewed several fire like bombs near the psychic pokémon. The fire bombs exploded and caused a lot of smoke.

Charmander made use of it and prepared for a flame thrower to turn up the heat!

Hedwig already knew what the fire pokémon was planning. She didn't need instruction from her trainer to know that she should put up a barrier. So she did. Not that Harry would have been able to tell her to do anything. The boy couldn't see anything. And giving orders would be really odd considering that the sight was zero. Giving orders would only make it more dangerous for her.

Unfortunately, Hedwig underestimated her opponent.

The Charmander cut of her attack midway and then used all the speed she could muster to get around the barrier and tackle the other pokémon. Hopefully it would do enough damage to knock her out.

Charmander's plan succeeded and Hedwig was caught of guard to be knocked out.

'Hedwig is unable to battle!' The referee declared.

'Ash from pallet wins the second fight. Both trainers have one win. This means that the next battle is the last one and will determine who will win this entire match!'

'That was some good thinking of you Charmander!" Ash praised. Harry nodded. "I agree. I couldn't see what you did, but I can guess. Good work! But let's see how well you can fight against Vulpix!

Last round: Vulpix (Harry) versus Charmander (Ash)

"Trainers have chosen their pokémon. Match will start in three... Two... One GO!"

'Vulpix begin with a quick attack!' Harry ordered.

'Create a lot of smoke Charmander and try to use your speed against her!' Ash added.

Both pokémon listened to the commands of their trainers. Vulpix because they had agree to give the trainer a change. And because she still had an issue with Vulpix. This was the perfect opportunity to take care of it!

The third and last battle was rather short because the pokémon knocked each other out. How it happened neither trainer really knew.

'Double knock out.' The referee declared. "Since this isn't a gym battle you can either choose another pokémon or you can let this battle register as a tie." The referee told them.

'A tie.' Both boys told the referee.

"Very well then." The man agreed.

"Both of you did an excellent job." The referee told them.

"Now get out of here. Go and take care of your pokémon." The referee ordered sternly.

'Yes sir!' Both boys chorused. They were out of sight within the blink of an eye.

The referee stared after the two boys for several long minutes. "_That was an excellent battle if I do say so myself."_ The man thought to himself. _"I'm sure the boss would be very interested in gaining two promising young trainers..."_ The man took a remote from his pocket and pressed a button. A small doorway opened in the ground. The man jumped into the opening which closed moments after.

Chapter END

Kingdark: I suppose that it couldn't last. The size of this chapter is nearly cut into half. Roughly two thousand eight hundred words. Give or take a few. The reason is mostly because I made it a two versus two battle instead of a longer fight. Ash and Harry wanted to see how much they needed to interfere in the match.

Since Charmander and Vulpix were able to think of their own, maybe they aren't as 'broken' as Harry and Ash thought.

I made pidgey a girl as well. I always messed up with my genders. So now I don't need to remember which is a girl or a guy.

What do you think of the way I rewrote the fight? None of that 'use tackle' or whatever nonsense!

'Gastly' (level 10) GHOST + POISON' **FEMALE**- Harry

'Vulpix' (level 12) FIRE' **FEMALE**- Harry

'Growlithe' (level 12) FIRE' **FEMALE**- Harry

'Pidgey' (Level 16) FLYING + **FEMALE**- Harry

'Charmander' (level 14) FIRE + FLYING' **FEMALE**- Ash

'Scyther' (level 14) BUG + FLYING' **FEMALE**- Ash

Kingdark


	6. First badge! Harry versus Flint!

Chapter 6

Updated on 29/03/2011 at 19:53 local Belgium time

Kingdark: Chapter has been changed a lot. Starting from chapter seven, it will be ALL new! Oh yhea baby!

Chapter START

Two weeks had passed since both Harry and Ash had lost against each other. Neither really cared about their loss. The fight wasn't really meant to 'win' but to see how well they could fight with their new pokémon and how well they could think for themselves. Thankfully their new friends could do better for themselves than Ash and Harry had feared.

Those two weeks were spend training them and teaching them how to act in what situations. They were taught that they would be able to fight on their own and as their trainers they would only interrupt when they had a better strategy. Doing this required a lot of trust both sides. The pokémon would need to stop doing what it was doing immediately to comply with its new order. And the trainer would need to trust its pokémon to judge the situation properly and come out alive.

Harry and Ash each went their separate ways when they were training their pokémon. They would discuss what they were doing freely, but neither wanted to go and observe unless the other asked.

Every three days they would do a short one on one battle to test their training out. Those battles weren't official, but the referee who had watched them had offered to assist.

"It will be in my off hours. I think the both of you have a lot of potential. These battles won't be official mind you but as an official from Viridian city I can express my opinion should the two of you ever be mentioned."

Harry had been suspicious at this random act of kindness because he didn't know what camp this guy was loyal too. Was his loyalty towards the gym leader? Or was it for the elite four? Perhaps this guy was loyal to just some low level bandits? Or worst case scenario; was team rocket involved?

Ash and Harry did not remain within the city walls though. They ventured outside the walls as well. Looking for a good fight with the wild pokémon there. As well as trying to figure out what travellers knew about the destroyed outpost. Rumours were beginning to flow around but none of them seemed even close to the truth.

The most popular rumour said that the outpost was burned to the ground by an unknown and possibly undiscovered pokémon.

The pokémon in Viridian forest had been identified for decades. The wilds weren't as 'wild' anymore that a pokémon could travel unseen or undiscovered from one point to another. The closest thing to the truth was a conspiracy theory. This theory claimed that the outpost had been from a surviving branch of the Kanto empire that had been trying to conquer it back under a surviving blood heir of the old throne.

Centuries ago, the world had been divided into several big unified nations with a few smaller ones on the side that claimed independence but were actually puppets under one of the three big nations.

At some point in history, someone tried to commit a coup d'etat to take control of all three countries at the same time. The only thing that it succeeded in doing was causing a civil war. Nobody knew who was their ally anymore and so all three nations crumbled. None of the big countries were in any state to make a military move though so they just tried to recover from the crippling civil war instead.

When the civil war was over, and the three big nations had finally recovered somewhat, the big three were divided into several smaller pieces, each claiming independence as well. This caused a situation where neither could act out of fear that a rival would take this opportunity to attack as well.

The situation remained the same for decades. Their official armies slowly crumbled as well. Official support crumbled and supply lines crumbled as well. In the end not even the divided independent countries managed to survive which led to the current political situation.

All city leaders agreed that when a trainer appeared that proved himself or herself to be strong, smart, talented then he or she would be able to take control of the cities as the 'pokémon master' of its region. The other countries agreed with this rule as well.

Gym leaders appeared one by one, as well as their 'badges' to show prove of their defeat. The initial four elite trainers that defeated them took up position. Now wannabe rulers not only had to gather eight badges, they also had to defeat the elite four after proving that they had what it took to be a good leader.

If any trainer could manage this, and could unify his or her region then this trainer could try the same in a different region as well. His or her status as 'pokémon master' would give him or her complete immunity. This wannabe ruler would be able to visit the other regions, catch pokémon, gather badges and then try to defeat the elite four again. There was an equal price with defeat as well as victory.

Should the trainer win, then he or she would take control of a different region as well. If the trainer lost however, then he or she would lost their status as pokémon master as well as the immunity that it provided. The region could then choose to do with the trainer whatever they wanted. Dropping the trainer in the middle of nowhere with no supplies, clothes or pokémon was the usual punishment. If they were even crueller then they would be dropped in human like pokémon during mating season that ate or killed the males afterwards.

Some pokémon species ate the male alive, others would chase the male out of their nest for other predators to eat.

The consequence of losing was enormous.

Which brought him back to the unknown loyalty of this referee.

The six pokémon had apparently talked as well because in the end, they told the true story that had led them to be in that outpost. It is not unusual for captured pokémon to go back into the wild if their trainer is killed in some way and the trainer has no human friends, allies or family to go to. If the captured pokémon go back into the wild they often stick together and usually end up becoming prey to each other. This happened because there was no human to buffer their behaviour or in other words give them enough food to keep their instincts in check.

The story that led the five of them to that outpost was similar to the scenario above.

The oldest pokémon -and the strongest- was Pidgey. The bird pokémon had been injured when she was young and had been healed by a human which would eventually become their trainer.

Nodoka -the name of their trainer- was an odd duck. She preferred to live in the wilds and observe pokémon in their natural environments. It was for that reason that Nodoka had been training really hard to survive in the wild without too much comfort. A small one man tent, a way to make a camp fire safely and more importantly: to keep predators away.

For that purpose she had needed a pokémon. The problem was that she didn't have access to one. Her village was a small one and the one trainer that was their only defense was uninterested in helping a girl like herself out. Nodoka practiced and practiced. When she healed me she was really trying to earn my friendship. When she had it, she began practising in ways that were impossible before. I would sit in a tree and try to watch her moving. It would sometimes take hours before she got there but she got better over time. Patience is a requirement in the wild but she eventually succeeded. She observed pokémon as they lived and kept herself far enough to escape if they conceived her a threat.

How the others had ended up in her team didn't matter much in the end. It was when she had a team of five that Nodoka had decided that she was good enough to leave her village. Since Nodoka didn't have any parents except a whore for a mother that gave just enough money for her to live on for rent and some food she hadn't felt bad at all in just leaving. Her mother had been threatening with teaching her the family job. And spreading her legs for whatever male that thought he had a big enough penis was not something she wanted.

That didn't mean that Nodoka wasn't aware of the differences between sexes. She had done plenty of other sexual deeds but a kick in the nuts was more than enough to convince anyone that her virginity was hers to give away and not anybody else.

They left their village and lived in the wild for several full moons -at least a few months in other words- when she stumbled on a Team Rocket Operation.

The pokémon in that particular area had known about the strange human. They had left her alone except to watch. She hunted them but only for food. If she was attacked her five pokémon would defend her with their last breath. It was her reputation alone that made pokémon tolerate when she was watching. No matter how good a normal human think s/he is, stealth is something most pokémon can detect of a human. Most but not all of them. The plenty meals she had hunted were prove of that.

Back to the Team Rocket operation.

It was only because of her experience in the woods and her experience in stealth that allowed her to stay hidden at first. Living as she did had taught her to appear non-threatening to adult predators. Pokémon that would normally kill a human on sight left her alone because she showed no fear and because she knew what body language to use. Scyther couldn't count how many times they had to run for their lives out of somebodies territory and to be then left alone. They were usually observed by those that did the chasing and then through a lot of pokémon body language their trainer was allowed to watch them do their thing during the day.

Team Rocket are truly criminals. The hides of pokémon difficult to find is worth a lot of money on the black market. But team rocket had no interest in the circle of life; Killing several dozen Pidgey would eventually impact on predators that hunted them. And they in turn would have an impact on their own predators.

And the circle of life was something Nodoka had gained a lot of respect for. So Nodoka had left the area to try and gather the support of the pokémon that had trusted her at least a little bit. She succeeded in gathering a small group of pokémon and attacked. They failed and the five of them were the only survivors. And that was only because they knew each other so well.

None of them knew how long they tried to survive in the wild. Only that they stumbled on that outpost after a long time. They were recognized as human friendly pokémon and allowed themselves to be caught if they could stick together. The humans agreed and time passed. No trainer wanted to take on five pokémon at once. And no trainer wished to take a pokémon against their will. If a trainer did that they usually ended up dead.

The rest was history.

Thankfully Harry didn't have to rely on body language to translate the story. Hedwig had agreed that since they were now allies they should be told of her existence. And since Hedwig was a psychic she could easily translate whatever the pokémon said directly.

Since it was a good way to practice her powers Hedwig had decided to try and spread her power so that Harry and Ash could hear what the pokémon were saying in their own language. It would only help them to become closer all the faster.

Nodoka hadn't been interested in making them stronger other than surviving in the wild. She cared for them but wouldn't send them out to battle only to gain a win. That was the reason why her pokémon weren't **that** powerful. They had still experience in fighting though.

None of the pokémon knew for certain if Nodoka was death or not. The only thing they knew for certain was that their fellow pokémon were being killed very quickly. They saw their trainer go down and not up again. That had been enough to send the survivors fleeing in every direction.

This story added to the fire that was already burning within Ash to complete his dream. To become a pokémon master and to take control of all the regions, no matter what the risks would be.

Harry and Ash trained for an additional two weeks before deciding they were as ready they were going to get.

A usual 'normal' battle goes like this:

a) both trainer send their pokémon out and when the start is given they give a single command.

b) The battle continues and only occasionally gives the trainer an additional command or a signal to tell the pokémon they could use this or that move.

It was roughly one month later after they had arrived in Viridian city when both trainers felt ready to challenge the gym leader for a badge. Both boys had made a strong friend in Brock as well. The older teenager had been very interested in the duo when the youngest had defeated him. He had underestimated him and it had been his weakest. But defeating a previous gym leader's pokémon still was no mean feat.

Brock had agreed to join the two of them should they come out the winner. Brock wasn't interested in the gym's leader position anyway but the eldest of his younger brother was interested in the position and had been training for it for months.

Viridian city - Main hall

"Another two rookie trainers for me to crush eh?" Flint Iwa sneered. "You are the ones that my... Son has been talking about?"

Neither boy answered the question.

"Just like my son, the two of you aren't worth too much." The man continued. "I'll even give you the first move. Isn't **that** nice of me hmm?"

"Which one is the first to challenge me?" The man asked after seeing that his intimidation tactics weren't working as they should.

"I will be the first that you have to defeat." Harry declared simply.

"That's good." Flint nodded. "Since I'm the gym leader I can set the conditions that this match will have. Should you loose against me, you won't be able to challenge me again until you have three badges. Your brother can still challenge me should he think he's talented enough. I will use an equal amount of pokémon as you have." Flint told Harry.

"Five pokémon for me-" Harry began. "And "Three pokémon for me." Ash finished.

"Very well then." The gym leader said. "The first match will be five versus five pokémon. Neither of us can switch out except when the pokémon is unable to continue." The gym leader continued.

"There are no further rules. Any objections?" Since neither trainer said anything Flint moved to his proper location as did Harry.

"So the big brother is going to go first eh?" Flint sneered. "Let's see how quickly I can crush you. It shouldn't take long considering..." Flint snickered at a private joke. Harry on the other hand narrowed his eyes.

"_This guy needs an attitude adjustment BIG TIME. Let's see if I can't exploit this a little..."_

"Are you up for a little bet... Flint?" Harry asked. His tone polite. If only barely. Harry knew that types like Flint demanded respect but didn't want to give it.

"Oh?" Flint said. "And what exactly would the terms be of this little bet? Scared already? Or maybe you want to show me what you do with your little brother in private..." The man taunted.

Harry ignored his taunt and set his terms. "You probably know that we made friends with your eldest. If I win I want him to join us so that he can accomplish his goals and prove to you that being a breeder is a dream worth going for."

"And what would _**I**_ get if I were too win this little match?" Flint asked casually.

"Name it." Harry said.

"The both of you as my... _'servants'_ whenever I require your... '_Help'_" Flint responded.

_**'That guy is going DOWN!'**_ Harry roared mentally.

'Deal.' Harry declared. And he followed that up with bring his first pokémon out.

'Gastly go!'

The pokémon appeared on the battlefield and seemed eager for a fight.

'Golem' Crush him.' Flint ordered.

First round. Gastly (Tr. Harry) versus Golem (Tr. Flint)

'Begin!'

Harry had given no command because Gastly already knew what he was supposed to do. Go invisible and try to paralyse the enemy.

Gastly began the fight with becoming invisible. It was his best weapon against any pokémon because that's how wild Gastly survived. Kill their prey through when they were unaware through the poisonous gas that their bodies existed out.

It seemed that the golem had just bad luck because Gastly had moved in immediately and paralysed the golem before it could do anything.

The official referee realized that. 'First match goes to the challenger'! The man declared.

'Golem return.' Flint said simply.

"Don't get exited little man. You just got lucky that's all. I'm going to enjoy bossing you around especially at night." Flint taunted.

'Onix go!'

'Gastly will remain on the field.' Harry told the referee.

Second round. Gastly (Tr. Harry) versus Onix (Tr. Flint)

Harry: one victory

Flint: Zero victory

'Onix dive underground!' The gym leader commanded calmly. "You know what to do after that."

The Onix dove underground as his trainer had told him.

"Don't panic Gastly. Remain invisible and do what we practiced during our training." Harry instructed.

The pokémon had become visible again because he couldn't keep his invisible form indefinitely. Not during the day at least.

Harry could hear a faint rumbling beneath the ground that pointed towards movement of the Onix.

The Gastly had remained where he was and hadn't moved too much. Then the Onix shot from the ground several meters from where the Gastly was floating. The ghost pokémon was still very much surprised by the sudden appearance but knew what to do in return.

The pokémon concentrated and inflicted the curse he had power over on the Onix. Gastly felt his energy drain away and was satisfied to see that the stone pokémon roared out in pain.

Gastly didn't want to loose a second and became invisible again. He changed his gas composition again to make it go asleep. The Onix was still recovering from the pain when it started to become drowsy.

'Onix RAGE!' Flint countered calmly.

The Onix recognized the command and realized that it did have a reason to be angry. The ghost pokémon should be nothing but a meal to its mighty body!

'DIE' The Onix roared. Gastly realized that his attempts to make it go to sleep was halted for now. His poison wasn't so easily shaken off though. The poison was now within the body of the Onix. So Gastly only had to evade its attacks until it calmed down somewhat. Then it had to connect to the poison and increase the rate that it flowed throughout the body. Gastly needed to act quickly though. The gas that was now flowing within Onix's body was part of him. And while it could regenerate on its own, it was also painful to do this.

The Onix only became even angrier when it could feel itself losing the battle to remain awake. It attacked blindly but eventually it had to give up. Onix fell asleep and was thus declared the loser.

Gastly quickly recalled the gasses from within Onix's body and was relieved when he was whole again when the Onix was returned. His poison -even if it was only to go to sleep- shouldn't stay in a pokémon. It could always revert back to its toxic state and that would kill a pokémon very slowly and very painfully if it was only there in small amounts.

Gastly had recalled enough of himself to know that the poison should be destroyed by Onix's body though.

'Second battles of four goes to the challenger.' The referee said again.

Flint recalled the Onix and considering who he should use now.

"_Ah I could use my newest addition..."_ The man thought to himself. "It should know enough to recognize an enemy when it sees one." He snickered to himself.

'Go.' Flint said simply. A beautiful Ninetails erupted from the Pokéball. And it seemed to be fairly new too, because it seemed very nervous.

"Is the challenger going to switch his pokémon or not? If you do then you may send him out again later. You still cannot switch during the middle of a fight. Should you switch out, then the pokémon will be counted as having being knocked out." The referee reminded Harry.

Harry considered the pokémon and nodded to himself. 'Gastly return.' Harry said softly. 'You did well but I want to give the others a change to fight as well.'

Gastly looked like he wanted to protest but then made an agreeable sound. The pokémon changed into energy and was recalled in the capturing device.

"_Vulpix and Growlithe don't have a clear advantage of that Ninetails."_ Harry thought to himself. _"Vulpix would be overwhelmed by its evolution and Growlithe lacks the fire power -no pun intended- to win a battle of fire versus fire. I could use pidgey but she doesn't have an advantage because it isn't the open air. And I don't want to use Hedwig except as my secret weapon."_ Harry nodded to himself and made his choice.

'Come out Vulpix!' Harry called out.

Third round. Vulpix (Tr. Harry) versus Ninetails (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Two victories

Flint: Zero Victory

"You may start battling now." The referee told the two trainers, interrupting whatever tension there was in the air.

'Vulpix, use your speed against it to confuse her!' Harry instructed firmly. He had discovered early that Vulpix needed clear instructions. She was relatively inexperienced and still very young.

The Vulpix did what her trainer ordered her to do and tried to make use of all her speed to confuse her. Unfortunately, the Ninetails was vastly more experienced and was able to take her out with a single flick of her tail.

'Victory goes to Flint.' The referee declared.

'Growlithe go' Harry said. He really wanted to keep Hedwig as a secret weapon. If he had to send her out, it would call a large amount of attention on his head. Something he really wanted to avoid.

Third round. Growlithe (Tr. Harry) versus Ninetails (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Two victories

Flint: One Victory

"Growlithe, use tackle and double team!" Harry ordered as soon as the referee gave the 'green light.'

The Growlithe knew how easily her pack sister had been defeated and vowed to not be as easy. She used all the speed she had readily available, not yet tapping into her limited reserves.

She managed to get a good tackle in, but it did relatively little damage. She followed it up by starting up double team in combination with tackles as well. Hopefully, she could confuse the Ninetails and tackle her for real when she was...

'NOW!'

The Ninetails was becoming more annoyed as time passed. This... PUP thought that she was good enough to defeat HIM? No. Way.

Arrogance had an expensive price to pay though, so when the Vulpix managed to tackle her several times while keeping her double team running, it made the Ninetails even angrier.

'Growlithe flame-thrower and see if you can keep up double team as well!

Translation: try a flame-thrower at the right time and see if you can do double team during it.

Growlithe probed her reserves and realized that they were already dangerously low. This battle had to end and soon!

She grabbed hold of her last energy and boosted her speed during double team as well as preparing for a powerful flame-thrower. It wouldn't be as strong as usual but hopefully it would weaken her enemy enough for the next one to defeat her!

But when the moment arrived that she was supposed to spew her flame-thrower at the Ninetails, Growlithe realized that she was too drained. Making a split second decision she used ember instead.

The fire attack hit her enemy dead on. Growlithe retreated far enough to catch her breath.

The Ninetails was still there. It was weakened but still awake.

Harry realized that Growlithe was dangerously tired. "I'm recalling Growlithe." Harry declared. "This match goes to Flint." Harry did as he said and recalled the pokémon into its Pokéball. 'Good work Growlithe. You did well.' The boy praised.

'Victory goes to Flint!' The referee parroted. Confirming what Harry had said already.

Fourth round. Pidgey (Tr. Harry) versus Ninetails (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Two victories

Flint: Two Victories

'Pidgey go!' Harry said simply. Pidgey was agile enough to tackle the Ninetails a few times. That was hopefully enough to weaken it even more. He still had Gastly and Hedwig in reserve. Flint only had Ninetails and two more pokémon left. It was a slight disadvantage to Harry. But he still hadn't send out his strongest.

'Match GO!' The referee bellowed!

'Pidgey, use agility as best you can and follow it up by tackling it quickly!' Harry barked.

The Ninetails was completely caught of guard by such a fast opponent and since it was already injured from earlier, it was knocked out shortly after.

'Victory goes to Ash Ketchum from pallet town!' The referee shouted.

Fifth round. Pidgey (Tr. Harry) versus Geodude (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Three victories

Flint: Two Victories

The two pokémon readied themselves again.

Flint and Harry gave their orders at the same time.

'Throw rocks Geodude!' Flint bellowed.

'Evade!' Harry countered immediately.

'See if you can grab a few of those rocks and drop em on it head!' Harry instructed.

Translation: pick a rock on the ground and use that to surprise the enemy.

Pidgey did as he was told, doing fake attempts to catch a rock mid air before she dove to the ground, took a smaller but still sizeable rock in her claws and dropping that on the Geodude's head. Unfortunately, the Geodude received very little damage. And before the pidgey could retreat, the Geodude had already tackled it to the ground.

Harry realized that the pokémon could kill his pidgey at this rate and prepared to recall the bird before it began to glow.

'Knock that bird out Geodude!' Flint shouted urgently. An evolution often re energized the pokémon in question. It would give the trainer a 'newly' send out pokémon concerning energy reserves.

Geodude tried to comply but the evolution was able to complete.

'Pidgeotto, use your size to your advantage! Blow sand in its eyes and tackle it again!' Harry instructed quickly.

Flint's knowledge in evolution was only partly correct. It either boosted the energy of the pokémon like it had been fully healed or it drained its energy instead. If it was the last option, the pokémon usually was just a bit more powerful. It also meant that it was knocked out should the evolution happen in a trainer's battle.

'Pidgeotto is unable to fight. This round goes to Flint!' The referee decided.

The Ninetails was weakened to the point that it was breathing very heavily. Flint had no choice but to recall it as well.

"It seems that we are at the deciding match." Flint observed.

Sixth and Final round. Mew (Hedwig) (Tr. Harry) versus Ryhorn (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Three victories

Flint: Three Victories

**'This round decides the winner of this match!'**

'Hedwig...Go!' Harry said simply with a smirk on his face. He still had two pokémon. And this one was his strongest.

When Flint realized what pokémon was floating before his eyes he couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him. "Y-you" The man began actually **stuttering** in surprise!

The Ryhorn was one of the toughest pokémon that flint had. But also the most dangerous. It was very stubborn and easy to anger.

The Ryhorn used its natural rage to boost its stomping power. It charged.

'Ice punch!' Harry commanded. While the Ryhorn was a stupid pokémon in general it was still **very** tough.

Hedwig wasn't Harry strongest pokémon for nothing. The ice punch hurt the Ryhorn a lot causing it to go blind with its anger.

**'****Psychic!** Harry instructed. Hedwig did as she was told and her strongest attack knocked the last pokémon out.

'Ryhorn is unable to battle. 'Victory goes to the challenger!' The referee declared.

"_And with one pokémon to spare too."_ Harry thought to himself. "_Ash better watch himself though. I barely won the match and that was only thanks to Hedwig as my Ace. Speaking of which..."_

Harry focussed his magic and edited the memory of the gym leader so he couldn't recall what pokémon had beaten his Ryhorn. He would be able to recall that it was a psychic type but not much more than that. It was backed up by a suggestion to get himself drunk. Hopefully that would make him blame the alcohol instead of foul play.

'You won this match... fairly so here is your proof that you won the match.' The gym leader bit out. "Your brother can challenge me tomorrow. Now excuse me."

Ash and Harry watched him exit the building and then left for themselves as well.

"You are going to need a lot of luck to beat him tomorrow Ash." Harry began. When they were a fair distance from the gym.

"Pikachu is very agile. But she can only manage his iron tail three times before being dangerously exhausted. Charmander and Scyther do not have a type advantage over the pokémon that flint used. Chances are that he will use different pokémon tomorrow. He might try to get you to agree to another bet. Don't agree to it unless I agree as well. That man should belong in jail and not be a free man." Harry concluded.

"Why?" Ash asked curiously.

"You didn't get what that bastard implied did you?" Harry asked.

Ash replayed most of the conversation that had happened through his head and tried to look at it from an adult angle.

"I don't see it." The boy admitted. Harry sighed. "Be glad you didn't. At least you still have your innocence a little bit that way. Trust me that it isn't a good thing. If you really want to know I will explain. But its not pretty."

"Never mind then." Ash decided. "I don't want to know.

_'Good.'_ Harry thought to himself. "_When Flint appears with a hangover that might give Harry an advantage. Hopefully he will underestimate Ash and we'll get our second victory in a row along with a powerful ally in Brock as well!"_ Harry finished.

Chapter END

Kingdark: The below is the end result of the match. Which pokémon were defeated and who remained. I don't know the last name of Brock so I choose Brock Iwa. It should mean earth/stone I think. I borrowed the word from Naruto. If any reader knows a better translation for stone/earth/rock feel free to share it.

I changed my mind about using levels. At least officially. It is too much of a bother to me. Hope you won't mind eh?

Ash

'Pikachu'

'Charmander'

'Scyther'

Harry

'Mew'** undefeated**

'Gastly' **weakened**

'Vulpix' **defeated**

Growlithe' **defeated**

''Pidgeotto' **defeated**

Flint

Golem **defeated**

Onix **defeated**

Nine tails **defeated**

Geodude **defeated**

Ryhorn **defeated**

Kingdark


End file.
